In the Crosshairs
by Callalilies
Summary: Roy and Riza are threatened. When a protective grandfather insists that they stay at his house for protection, they start letting their feelings show. But where can it lead with the danger they're in and their constant audience? Royai fluff abounds!
1. Friday Night Ambush

Hi! This is my first attempt at an action/adventure fic, but I think it is turning out nicely. Royai will abound in later chapters, especially in the lull between action segments. Right now it's not obvious but I need to set up. Please review and give me feedback!

"-so then I clicked the safety off my gun and-" Riza began laughing at the memory.

"Oh Riza, please tell me you actually shot near the man this time! Sometimes I swear you're getting too soft on him!" cried her friend as she came to sit on the couch with Riza.

"Oh shut up and let me finish the story, Carol! So, when I took the safety off his head shot up of the desk and he started looking around for a pen, but he didn't realize that he'd put one behind his ear. When he finally noticed he reached back so fast that he actually knocked himself you of his chair! It was so hard to keep from laughing, you have no idea." Riza finished, tears actually forming in her eyes at the hilarity of the moment.

When Carol stopped laughing she took a deep breath and fixed Riza with a serious look. " I mean it Riza. If the man is really-"

"Carol, please give it a rest. Every time I come over here it's the same thing: 'Riza, you like him. Enough of this faithful soldier routine, show it!' Carol, I can't and I don't so please let it be." She retorted quickly.

"Very well then, deny it. Just wait, someday I'll say I told you so." Carol said, reaching for the wine bottle and glasses sitting on the coffee table. Riza bit back an exasperated sigh as her friend poured the wine. She glanced out the window behind the couch idly as she waited. Finally the wine was poured to Carol's satisfaction and she handed Riza a glass.

"To gunwomen, dogs, and the loves of our lives," Riza shot a glare at her friend, who continued her toasting unperturbed "may we know them when we find them."

"Cheers." Riza chorused, clinking her glass with Carol's with a slight flicker of irritation. As they raised their glasses to their lips the two sharpshooters heard a sound they were both terribly familiar with. The report of a gun issued loudly and the two women looked around quickly as a bullet shattered the window of the ground floor apartment, showering them with shards of glass.

"Are you alright?" shouted the blonde, drawing her weapon and glancing over at her friend. She winced as her brain registered the pain from the cuts that the shattered window and the glass beneath her knees. The only response she received was a quiet moan. Riza crawled to her friend, sweeping shards of glass out of her path as she glanced around the room to establish that there were no more windows for their attackers to fire through. When she reached Carol she eased her onto her side to reveal a wound where a bullet had lodged itself in Carol's side. Riza quickly assessed her situation. She could hear the few officers from the surrounding apartments that were in early on a Friday night shouting to each other to find out where the shots had come from, she knew that she couldn't call out to them and they would not find out on their own in time, her friend was injured, and there was at least one gunman out there waiting for an opportunity to fire. As the hubbub outside the apartment increased she realized that the gunmen, there were at least six of them, were not waiting, but heading towards the window.

Well. First of all: my first cliffhanger! Also, please don't be shy about reviewing. My work has been reviewed as terrible and rubbish before, so I am not afraid of your flames. Just give me some input as to why you didn't like it!


	2. Survival

She hurriedly dragged Carol into the hallway towards the front door, taking care to say low to the ground, and pulled an armchair over to block the hall way and give her something to hide behind while she shot. The sniper took the blanket off the back of the armchair and tried to slow the bleeding from Carol's wound before returning to her position to defend them.

As luck would have it, Roy Mustang's apartment was in the next building over and he was miraculously at home to hear the shot. When he went outside to investigate he saw that the building next to his was in a state of minor turmoil and he began to run over to investigate. When he had crossed about a quarter of the distance he began putting his gloves on and heard more shots being fired.

When the first figure reached the window Riza shouted out to him. " Stay right where you are! I am a military trained sniper and will not hesitate to fire."

"We know you're a military sniper! That's why we're here you military dog!" he yelled back, reaching for his gun.

_Amateur_ thought Riza, but what she shouted was different. "Why are you after military snipers?" She questioned, wondering where the other men were.

"Carol Blunt and the infamous Elizabeth Hawkeye of the Amestris Army's Snipers. Both active in the massacre at Ishbal." Riza sucked in her breath as the man stepped into the room through the low window. His skin was dark and his eyes were the accusing red of an Ishbalan. He raised his gun and Riza snapped out of her guilty daze. She pulled the trigger once again against an Ishbalan, the molten guilt inside of her surging up.

This seemed to be a signal. A few more men rapidly approached the window. No words were exchanged this time, only bullets flew between the armchair and the window. Then, as Riza felled a third man, she noticed just how many there were and the other window shattered. A second wave of men entered through it and Riza found that she had spent a clip of ammo already. As she drew her second gun a bullet flew through the armchair and Riza realized that her shelter would not last much longer.

As the sounds of more gunfire reached his ears Roy looked around and spotted the mass of people silhouetted by the light pouring from the windows of an apartment at the back corner of the building. He hurried toward it, seeing the signs of firing guns and smelling gunpowder on the breeze as he pelted on toward the fray. He just had time to register the fact that the person shooting from inside was exceptionally talented with a gun before he reached the hedges he had planned to use to shield himself.

Riza was surprised when she heard a loud knock on the door behind her. _Oh please, no. I can't hold them off there too._ She thought, fear mounting in her.

"Blunt! Are you ok in there?" shouted a voice from the other side of the door.

"She's injured! But don't come in, they're around back!" Riza shouted back. She heard shouting outside the door as the man that she had spoken with started sending soldiers around to the back of the building. Then flames erupted outside the second window that had been destroyed. _That's the Colonel! _Riza's mind screamed as she fired once again through the other window. _What's he doing here? He's going to get himself killed!_ Through this fear Riza saw that she did not have any ammunition left. She crawled painfully to Carol, who's breathing was harder now. A feeling of hopelessness washed over her as she applied pressure to the wound. Carol couldn't be moved, if the Ishbalans kept coming they would be killed.

Roy snapped and the crowd of men struggling to get through the window without being shot was no more. He could not hear any more shots and waited for the flames to die down so he could climb through the window to check for survivors. As the last flames died away he heard shouts coming from around the corner.

Suddenly Riza heard a voice come from the window. "Retreat! We'll get them and that meddling Flame Alchemist later! We will have our revenge." With this she raised her head and saw the figures sprint away, and then Roy running after them, hands outstretched and ready to snap. Before he could use his alchemy the Ishbalans had disappeared into the maze of alleys behind the barracks. Riza saw him turn and approach the window, obviously having decided that checking for survivors and wounded was more important.

"Is anyone still alive in here?" called Roy as he climbed through the shattered window.

"Colonel! We're back here. Carol's injured, we're going to need paramedics." Riza called as she pulled Carol's hair out of her face and continued her efforts to stem the bleeding. Roy ran over to the armchair and quickly pulled it out of the way with a look of complete surprise.

"Lieutenant!" he exclaimed, seeing the scratches and blood on his officer and then the woman on the ground before her "I'll call for cars." He murmured as his eyes found the pool of blood around the wounded woman. As Roy turned to go into the kitchen to make the call a man burst into the hall. Roy pivoted, hands ready to protect himself and the two women, but lowered them when he saw that it was a soldier.

"Paramedics are here. We called them when we heard that there was someone wounded in here. We heard the guns stop, so we thought it was safe." He waved a group of people in and stood aside. The newcomers quickly relieved Hawkeye of her task and Roy moved to help her up.

"Here, we can get you looked at and then you can tell me what happened. You know we're going to catch this case anyway." He said quietly as he raised her to her feet. She nodded and gestured for him to go ahead of her as was normal. Her commanding officer simply shook his head and put his arm around her shoulders to steady her. She was hurt and he wasn't going to have her pass out walking behind him. He dimly registered the fact that soldiers had come around the corner of the house and were checking for enemy survivors as he led his Lieutenant out of the apartment to a waiting ambulance. Riza was also lost in thought. She was wondering how long ago Carol had been wounded and found the answer in the form of the clock at the end of the hall. Her battle had begun 18 minutes earlier. As she mulled this over her thoughts turned to another question. _Why, _she thought_ are snipers suddenly being targeted? _


	3. Plans

Roy handed Riza off to the paramedics in the parking lot at the front of the building. He climbed into the front seat of the car as they drew her into the back. A paramedic came to the driver's seat and the trip to the hospital began in silence except for the hushed voices of the other paramedics in the back of the car. When they arrived at the hospital Riza was whisked away and Roy was left in the lobby. He waited impatiently, trying to figure out what had happened, why Riza had been set upon in her friend's apartment, but was ultimately unable to think of a good explanation. He was still trying to figure it out when a nurse came into the lobby about ten minutes after he'd arrived.

"Hello, are you related to one of the women that just came in, sir?" Asked the woman adoringly.

"No, not really. Lieutenant Elizabeth Hawkeye is one of my officers. May I see her? I need her to tell me what happened." The colonel responded, for once oblivious to a woman's admiration.

"Oh." The nurse blinked, taken aback by his brisk response. "I believe the doctor is almost finished bandaging up her knees. I'm sure it's fine if you go in. The other woman is in surgery, but Lieutenant Hawkeye is in Room 107." Roy nodded his thanks and then hurried through the door the nurse had come through. When he arrived at Hawkeye's room, he carefully opened the door. Riza looked up with a small grimace as the door opened and the doctor finished wiping a cut on her forearm with an antibacterial solution. She looked ready to stand and salute, but the doctor prevented it.

"Don't even think about it, Lieutenant. Let me wipe off these last few cuts and then you'll be able to move around. Whoever it is will live if you don't salute once." Roy almost had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing at the exasperated look Riza shot at the doctor. Instead he opted for conversation.

"Lieutenant, how are- oh forget it." He thought better of asking Hawkeye about her condition almost immediately. "Doctor, how is she?" The doctor finished wiping off one more small cut at Riza's shoulder with a flourish before turning to face the officer that had entered.

"Well sir, her knees are pretty torn up and she's got some cuts and scrapes, but nothing too serious. I'm done, so I'll leave you to talk, just stick around. Someone at the Lieutenant General's office called to say that he'll be here momentarily to talk to you two, three if Second Lieutenant Blunt is able." Roy pulled a chair over to the side of the hospital bed as the doctor gave Riza some parting instructions and left. As soon as he had left Riza started in.

" Colonel, what were you doing there? You could have been shot and then where would we be? When are you going to learn not to rush into things like that?" She hissed.

"How else am I supposed to protect those below me, Lieutenant? You're worrying too much. I'm just glad that we both got out of there and got your friend to the hospital." It was an old argument, but they would keep at it until he no longer had to put himself in danger trying to protect other people. Riza gingerly shifted so her legs could dangle over the edge of the hospital bed.

"Have you seen her, sir?"

"No, Hawkeye. I'm sorry, she was still in surgery when I came to see you. Perhaps the Lieutenant General will know more when he comes." Roy avoided looking at her for a moment. "How do you know her?"

"Ishbal. She's a sniper." Riza answered simply. No more explanation was needed. "I've been trying to find out if she'd help us when the time comes." Roy nodded at this.

"Would you mind telling me what happened? I assume the fact that you both fought in Ishbal is significant." He queried, already sensing pieces falling into place with the information about how the two women met. Riza swallowed almost imperceptibly before beginning to explain.

"We were in her apartment talking. I'd arrived about fifteen minutes before. We were sitting on a couch in front of the west window. The first shot came through-" Riza stopped abruptly as the door to the room opened yet again. Roy rose quickly to salute the Lieutenant General and Riza followed suit, albeit a bit more slowly because of her injured knees. Lieutenant General Grumman waited for one of the soldiers that had accompanied him to close the door behind him before speaking.

"Colonel, what is the extent of the injuries?" he asked, watching Riza carefully.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye sustained minor cuts from a shattered window and her knees were hurt by glass on the floor. Second Lieutenant Blunt was still in surgery last time I spoke with hospital staff involved. She was shot in the side."

"I have instructed the doctors to alert me of any developments in Second Lieutenant Blunt's surgery. Lieutenant Hawkeye, how do you feel?" Grumman asked, concern evident in his tone.

"I have felt much worse, sir. I will be fine as soon as my knees heal." Riza assured him.

"Good. Now we need to determine a sequence of events so we can file a report and find the criminals that did this. Lieutenant Hawkeye, would you begin please?" Riza explained all that she knew about what had happened. Roy interjected every once in a while to help explain what he had been doing. By the time they had finished they all had a pretty clear idea of what had happened. The urge to truly discuss the events of the evening weighed heavily on the three officers, but they knew that they couldn't at this time, in this place. It was the eldest member of the party that spoke first after the events had been relayed to him.

"Well, this group obviously has significant numbers and has threatened the snipers active during the war. They also mentioned taking revenge on the Colonel. I will pass this information on to the Fuhrer back in Central, who will undoubtedly send it out to commanding officers of the parties concerned. I am not sure what precautions they will take to protect those in their command that have been threatened, but I do know what I intend to do." The older man rose and walked out of the room. He returned a moment later. "I just finished speaking with the Second Lieutenant's surgeon. The surgery did not go quite as well as they had hoped." He explained carefully, watching his granddaughter's eyes widen slightly in alarm. "She did make it through the surgery, but she is unconscious at the moment. The doctor insists that she stay in the hospital for follow up care for at least two weeks. I will have to post a guard at her door to assure her safety." He stopped speaking for a long moment before the Colonel spoke up.

"Sir, what was it that you planned to do to assure the Lieutenant's safety and my own? You mentioned a plan." He prompted respectfully.

"Some of your subordinates are in the lobby, waiting to visit their Lieutenant. You are each to send one back to your respective apartments to pack a few bags with essentials. They are to deliver the bags to my residence this evening. The security there has recently been increased. You will both be my guests as long as this threat remains." Riza opened her mouth to protest, but her grandfather was determined. He gave her a look reminiscent of the ones she was known to give the Colonel before he saluted and left the room. Roy spoke up as they looked at the closed door.

"That seems a bit-" He searched for the right word for a moment. "- drastic."

"I'm sorry sir, it's probably in large part because I'm his only grandchild." Replied Hawkeye. She eased herself off the side of her hospital bed and moved her legs experimentally. Roy made a small affirmative noise as he crossed the room.

"Sir, you're not supposed to know about that." Hawkeye reminded him gently, wincing as she bent her knee too far. He looked up quickly; a small grin crossed his features as he picked Riza's guns up out of the corner where the nurses had put them.

"Oops. Sorry Lieutenant, that's what happens when your best friend is in Intelligence." Riza shook her head at him as he handed her the two weapons. She stood aside to put them on and allow the Colonel to go to the door before she followed him. They had almost reached the door when it banged open. Havoc, Furey, Falman, Breda, and Maes crowded into the small room. After an initial clamor during which the men all ascertained that neither of the officers was seriously injured, the din quieted. Maes piped up, clearly the self appointed spokesman.

"The Lieutenant General told us that you two need bags for your stay in his home. I have Roy's key, so Havoc and I can go pack some bags for you. Lieutenant, I called Gracia at the hotel we're staying in and she said that she could pack your bags. Furey tells me that he has your key to walk Black Hayate, so he'll let Gracia in and bring the bags and the pup over to you."

"Thank you" replied the pair in unrehearsed unison. Everyone laughed at the coincidence before bidding the officers farewell. Had Roy and Riza not been so busy saying goodbye to their subordinates they might have noticed the mischievous gleam in a certain bespectacled friend's eyes.

Author's Note!

Huzzah! Another chapter up and Royai fluff ahoy! Sorry if Grumman seemed OOC, I have rationalized it and it will become more clear in the next chapter. HINT: More reviews More fluff. More fluff More time to perfect action. More fluff + More time to perfect action Better fic! Therefore: More reviews Better fic! hint hint


	4. Nurses and Old Friends

Once the visitors had taken their leave, Roy and Riza walked out to the lobby of the hospital, where the Lieutenant General was waiting with a small group of soldiers. Grumman walked over as soon as he saw them.

"Lieutenant, we can leave as soon as you get yourself discharged from the hospital and leave a message for your friend when she wakes up. I've asked the nurse to discharge you as quickly as possible so we can be on our way." He gave the instructions briskly before returning to his men.

Roy raised an eyebrow as Riza walked away. The Lieutenant General's reaction to stress was interesting. He could now see how a man as eccentric as Riza's grandfather could reach such a rank. As he puzzled over Grumman's success, Roy glanced back over at the main desk, where Riza was clearly getting frustrated with the nurse he had spoken with earlier. He crossed the lobby to see if he could calm Hawkeye down, it couldn't possibly be good for her to be that agitated.

"Excuse me miss, is something wrong?" He asked the nurse politely, putting a calming hand on Hawkeye's shoulder.

"Oh, not really, I just can't seem to find your Lieutenant's file." She simpered back at him, casting a sour look at the blonde standing next to him. Roy glanced at his Lieutenant, who merely looked over at him before glancing at the desk in front of the nurse. Roy got the message loud and clear.

"Is that all? Well, I'm sure you'll be able to find it. After all, the Lieutenant General _did_ ask that you discharge the Lieutenant here as quickly as possible, right… oh, I'm sorry, I must have missed your name." He answered with a small smile.

"How foolish of me! My name is Sara. What's your name, Major?" She cast a triumphant look over at Riza, who smiled back politely. The poor nurse had no idea that she had just misinterpreted the insignia on Roy's uniform or that he was about to crush her hopes.

"Well Sara," Roy responded easily, "would you mind looking in the cabinet again? The file must be there somewhere." Sara rushed to comply, fully aware that the file was in fact not in the cabinet. Unfortunately for her, the Colonel had been made aware of that fact too. When she turned around he was handing a file from the desk to the woman next to him. Sara's only fleeting consolation was that he had moved his hand from the blonde's shoulder to pick up the file.

"Ah! I see you found the file. How silly of me to leave it there and not check." The nurse laughed uneasily.

"Indeed." Riza commented dryly as she signed the file and handed it back to the abashed Sara, who looked up at the Colonel hopefully. Mustang had already turned away, heading for the patient mailboxes. "Colonel, I gave the doctor a note for her when he was giving me instructions. We should report back to Lieutenant General Grumman."

Sara cringed as she heard the young man's true rank when his lieutenant called him. She watched with pure venom in her gaze as the Colonel turned to walk back across the white tiles of the lobby to his superior, the Lieutenant not far behind.

"Are you two ready to leave?" Asked Grumman, sending his men to get the cars with a wave of his hand. When they had left he leaned in to ask another question. "And do I need to refer that poor nurse to one of the hospital's psychiatrists?" A small smile crept on to Riza's face as she saw the traces of her grandfather's humor reappearing.

"Yes sir, we are ready to leave. And no sir, that nurse does not need to see a psychiatrist, she simply needs an attitude adjustment." She replied as the group walked out the front door of the hospital and to the waiting cars. Roy and Grumman climbed into the back seat of one car and Hawkeye settled into the passenger seat. One of Grumman's men came to drive the car, explaining that the other three men would take the other two cars.

The car ride was not long, but it was awkwardly silent. Roy, Riza, and the driver all knew Grumman well enough to carry on a conversation, but no one wanted to initiate one with so many people around. The atmosphere was so bad that the occupants of the car were all relieved to alight in front of their destination.

The building was clearly old. The stones were a bit weather-beaten, but the entire house was well kept. Riza had to gently jar her commanding officer as he stood, staring up at the house. It was not as big as the Armstrong manor, but Roy's eyes lingered on the well kept garden that seemed to surround the building, and the intricate wooden carvings that decorated the door and window frames, many of them adorned with worn Grumman family crests. He had seen elegant houses before, but the thought that this was _Hawkeye's_ family home stunned him. It was quite a step up from the house he remembered staying in while he trained under her father.

"Are you two coming in?" Asked Grumman genially as he stood in the doorway, waiting for his guests.

"Yes sir." Responded the slightly dazed Colonel, before hurrying up the stairs to the door. Riza was not quite as fast in coming. She took a moment to ascertain how far she could bend her knees before walking to the stairs. The stairs proved to be more difficult than the walk to them. They were not particularly high or steep, but Riza had difficulty on all three steps up to the door. She put on a brave face, but she knew it was for naught. The two people that witnessed her climb knew her well enough to see through her mask, just as they had known not to ask her about her own injuries. When she reached the door, her grandfather ushered her in before he sent Roy in.

Roy started as he came into the front hall of the house. His first impression was of a tall room built entirely of black marble. The only feature of the room that was not black marble was the handsome white marble staircase running up the center of the room to a balcony in the second floor hallway. His awe must have shown on his face.

"Do you like it? You'll find that several of the main rooms have a chess theme. Not my decision, my ancestors', but the taste for chess certainly seems to be passed down with the house." Grumman explained, crossing to the foot of the stairs and placing a hand on the figure at the foot of the right banister. "See? These figures are the black king and his queen." Riza smiled at her grandfather's enthusiasm as she watched the men admire the room.

"Oh my goodness gracious! Elizabeth, sweetheart how are you?" A tall, elderly woman hurried to embrace Riza, her white hair streaming behind her. Roy turned to see who had entered the room. He was surprised to see a thin, tall, and obviously old Ishbalan woman looking Riza over to see all of her injuries. Riza brought her over to Roy.

"Colonel, may I introduce you to Mayaris?" She asked politely, waiting for Roy to nod before continuing. "Mayaris is an old friend of my grandmother's. She's been taking care of the Lieutenant General since my grandmother died. Mayaris, this is Colonel Roy Mustang, my superior officer. He is going to be staying too."

"Pleased to meet you at last, Colonel. I've heard a great deal about you in the last few months." Responded Mayaris graciously.

"Very nice to make your acquaintance, ma'am." He answered, slightly disconcerted at the idea of an Ishbalan woman being so cordial toward him. He had to wonder if she knew about his role, or indeed Hawkeye's, in Ishbal. He was brought out of this reverie by the Lieutenant General.

"I'm glad you're all acquainted, but that brings me to the rules I have for this house." Roy was all ears; he was keen not to displease the man in charge of Eastern Headquarters. Riza and Mayaris just looked at each other knowingly. "First of all I am going to require that we drop this ridiculous military formality. The four people here are Riza, Mayaris, Roy, and myself. I'm grandfather to Riza, Mister Grumman to Roy, and you old coot to Mayaris as long as we're here." They all shook their heads at Grumman's antics before Riza prompted him.

"What is the second thing, grandfather?"

"The second thing is mostly for you, missy. Shooting is only allowed in the shooting gallery downstairs." A look of disbelief came over Roy's face. Upon seeing it, Grumman laughed and explained. "I made some improvements to the cellars. You'll have to ask some of the guards when you meet them to show you what I've done. They all live in some rooms I put in down there. Anyway, my last rule is new and only for you two. I'm going to ask that you stay indoors until they make some real progress getting rid of the group that's after you. We don't want something to happen because you went out for a walk. All clear?"

"Yes." The two officers nodded, they understood the rules that were being instated.

"Yes, you old coot!" Mayaris crowed laughingly, "So, which room should I put Roy in?"

"What about the blue room at the end of the second floor hall?" He proposed.

"The shower in there doesn't work and I don't want to air out one of the third floor rooms if it's all the same to you." She explained to him.

"Well then, I guess the red room on the second floor is the only one left. Riza will just have to share her bathroom." Grumman solved the problem before moving on. "So, why don't we go into my study and play some chess and talk while we wait for your bags?" As they retired to the study, not one of them noticed the distinctly threatening presence pervading the house.

* * *

See? SEE? There is some cute Royai in here! There's some in the next chapter and then each chapter beyond that should have at least one Royai scene. PLEASE review! 


	5. A Late Night in the Grumman Household

Hi! Ok, I have a quick author's note before we get to the story. I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed by the number of reviews I have gotten. I have really enjoyed writing this, but I am obviously not inspiring anyone to comment. I'm not going to blackmail you into reviewing (if anyone is indeed reading), but I'm going to be realistic about this.

Major thanks go to my 3 reviewers:

cyclonealchemist 3

KTRose

Winglessfairy25

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

------------------------------

Grumman ushered his guests into the study before closing the heavy wooden door soundly behind them. As he bustled around the room turning on lamps and drawing curtains, Riza drew herself to a couch in front of the fireplace. Roy saw her movement and broke off his casual inspection of the dim, cluttered room to join her.

Rather than watch his host scurry around the room, Roy kept an eye on the man's granddaughter. The Lieutenant General came over and seated himself in a large chair near the couch. As he sat down, both men saw their companion carefully chafe her arms under the pretense of straightening her torn shirt.

"Riza, would you like me to ask Mayaris to bring a blanket or something down from your room?" Asked the older man, half rising from his seat. His granddaughter shook her head, but it was the man seated next to her that spoke.

"No need." He assured Grumman, pulling his gloves out of a pocket and quickly lighting the logs in the fireplace. As the warmth from the fire rolled out to the couch he pulled his coat off and draped it around Riza's shoulders. She looked up, gratitude and the beginning of protest making themselves apparent in her eyes, but Roy carefully avoided looking at her as he sat back down. Grumman observed the whole scene with a satisfied smile before speaking; effectively cutting off any opportunity Riza might have had to protest that she didn't need the coat.

"I think it would be best for me to tell you what the Bajin and his team from Eastern's Intelligence have found out thus far. He has reported that all of the men that were shot were Ishbalan. We're calling in an expert from Central to autopsy the others. The coroner also noticed that the men he examined all had the same tattoo on the inside of their wrists. Bajin doesn't recognize it as an array, so he believes it to be an old Ishbalan symbol. I'll ask Mayaris to look at it when I get a picture of it. Roy, would you look at it as well to rule out any alchemy you know?"

"Of course." Roy replied seriously, "Has Bajin found anything else?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm afraid Eastern is known for its fighters, not its detectives." Grumman sighed, obviously aware of how little information they had. "All that we know beyond that is what Riza was able to tell us about their targeting snipers."

"It sounds to me like these people are smart and original to know better than to target alchemists. Instead they chose the snipers." Commented Roy, taking his gloves off and placing them on the table before the couch.

"That would make sense except- " Riza was cut off by the ringing of a telephone somewhere beyond the pool of light cast by the fire and the lights Grumman had turned on. Grumman stood up to answer the phone, gesturing to Riza to continue. " Except they were very quick to decide to take revenge on you when you helped. That doesn't sound like they are afraid of targeting alchemists. But I think it would be more practical to think about how they are funded. I was unable to see exactly what type of guns they were using, but I know they were too new to have been scavenged from Ishbal. That means someone is supporting them." This caught Grumman's attention as he hung up the phone.

"That is a very astute observation, Riza. I'll have Bajin look into that. In the mean time, your bags have arrived." Riza and Roy rose from the couch and followed him out of the study.

As she crossed the threshold from the study into the front hall, Black Hayate skittered across the unfamiliar floor to skid into Riza's shins. She was already a little unsteady and the pup upset her balance, sending her falling backwards. Riza was only spared the humiliation of falling by the fact that Roy was behind her and caught her in time for her to regain her footing before anyone could notice her mishap. Scooping the muddy puppy out from under her feet, Riza continued to the front doors and her bags.

"Thank you both for bringing our bags over." Roy said to the small group assembled at the door. Furey and Havoc shrugged, but Hughes and his wife were too busy trying to conceal smiles. When he didn't hear a response from the normally talkative Hughes, Havoc looked over at him.

"What?" He asked when he saw Maes's expression. It took Havoc a minute to figure out what Hughes had been looking at. "Hey Hawkeye, why are you wearing the Colonel's coat?" Havoc glanced between the two, a smirk forming around his unlit cigarette.

"Lieutenant Haw-" Roy began, but stopped himself when he saw the look Grumman was giving him in response to the title. "Sorry Mr. Grumman, I mean Riza was cold and because she didn't have any clothing beside what was damaged in the attack I decided to lend her my coat." Havoc's eyebrows shot up at Roy's calling Hawkeye Riza, but he was prevented from reacting beyond that.

"Havoc, Furey, we'll see you tomorrow when you bring all of your completed paperwork for us to review." Ordered Riza, clearly intent on derailing the conversation. "Lieutenant Colonel, Gracia, thank you so much for helping them pack bags."

"Would you two carry Riza's bags to the top of the stairs?" Roy _suggested_ to the other two visitors as Riza spoke with Maes and his wife. His subordinates hastened to obey the order, each picking up a bag. Riza looked over as Havoc shouldered a garment bag in addition to the bag he was carrying.

"Gracia, what is in the garment bag? I can't think of anything I might need that would require you to use a bag." Riza shot a slightly perplexed look at her friend.

"Oh, your grandfather hasn't told you yet? He told us he was having a party for a lot of the higher ups here. He said he couldn't cancel so you and Roy would need clothing for the party." Gracia answered simply. Upon seeing a thoughtful expression on Hawkeye's face she elaborated. "Your grandfather told me that he'd sent you a dress on your last birthday that would work well. He described it so I could bring it far you." Riza nodded, finally understanding what Gracia had brought. She'd never worn the dress, but it certainly indicated a very nice party.

"Gracia and I would love to stay and talk, but the Fuhrer wants all of Central's Intelligence officers back in Central and we want to see our precious daughter." Maes proclaimed, breaking off a conversation with Roy as Havoc and Furey came down the stairs. Roy and Riza said goodbye to the couple first and then to their subordinates. Riza paused as she closed the door behind Havoc and Furey.

"Furey, I bet you 50 cens that the Chief and Hawkeye are together by the time this is over if she does not wind up shooting him first." Came the smoker's voice. Riza rolled her eyes at Havoc's imagination.

"I don't know…" Furey's response was hesitant and Riza got the distinct impression that he was looking back toward the door. She stepped out onto the front step.

"Goodbye, gentlemen." She called down the stairs to them. Furey had indeed been looking to the doors and fear registered instantly on his face. Havoc just waved up at her a little guiltily before she stepped back into the house and closed the door.

"Do you think she heard us?" Furey asked as he hurried to the car.

"Let us hope she didn't." Havoc responded as he climbed into the passenger seat. Fear was starting to gnaw at him too.

"To answer your question though," Furey started, glancing away from the road to look at his friend. "100 cens says we see evidence by the fourth day." The car came to life as Havoc laughed at his companion's frankness in the safety of the car.

Roy and Grumman greeted Riza when she came back inside with quizzical glances. Riza just shook her head as she set her dog down on the dark marble. "Those two were betting again. If they keep it up Furey will starve because he has lost so much. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to give Hayate a bath and go to sleep. Roy, I can show you where your room is if you would like to bring your bags up."

"Thank you." Roy picked up his bags as he watched Riza send her dog up the stairs before her and hug her grandfather. She turned and took his garment bag from him.

"I can manage this much." She insisted as she began her arduous trek up the high staircase. Roy followed her up, seeing how hard she was trying to keep going. When they reached the top of the stairs Riza led him through one of the two doors opposite them. "This is your room. The bathroom is through here and the bedroom is through the door at the back of this front room." She explained as Roy looked around the spacious front room. The theme of the room was obviously red and Roy was pleased to see a chessboard on the table. Riza led him into the bedroom. She opened a wardrobe in the corner to hang up his bag before turning back to him. "I am going to give Black Hayate his bath and take a shower myself before I go to sleep. I will knock on your door to the bathroom when I'm done. Goodnight Roy."

"Goodnight Riza. Thanks again." He walked her to the bathroom and reached to close the door behind her, but stopped when she turned around and reached out to stop the door. Her hand accidentally landed on his and she withdrew quickly, but he knew not to close the door.

"Sorry." She apologized quickly before continuing. "I almost forgot to thank you for catching me earlier." Roy just shook his head and offered some concerned advice.

"Riza, don't worry about it. Go take your shower. You can give your dog a bath in the morning." He was rewarded with a rueful grin and a brisk nod from the young woman. Roy bade her a final goodnight as he closed the door and went to unpack, suddenly struck by how much Riza had changed over the years.

She'd gone from a trusting stranger to a caring friend and protector. These days she would probably die before show anyone even the damaged version of her tattoo. Roy's thoughts turned to his alchemy master. Who would have guessed that he was capable of putting his life's work on his daughter's back like that? He shuddered and reached into the depths of a suitcase for the whiskey Maes had packed for him. Roy poured himself a glass and brought it into his front room. He finally voiced a question to the room at large.

"How was she supposed to protect your secret once you were gone, sensei? She didn't know alchemy or even how to shoot when you died. What were you thinking?" Roy sat in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of the shower in the next room. Finally a thought struck him. _What did he say when he was dying? He kept talking about Riza… _The words fell from Roy's mouth, an echo of the dying man. "I'll leave my daughter to you." _I was supposed to protect her. I guess I messed that one up. I arranged his funeral; she let me see his secrets, and then the next time I saw her I was thanking her for saving **my** life. _

The water suddenly stopped and Roy heard Riza step out of the shower. A few minutes later he heard her knock on the door and then retreat to her room. Roy rose from his chair and downed the last of his drink. As he entered the warm bathroom one thought crossed his mind. _I'm not going to mess up again._

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Heh, that turned kind of Roy-centric. Oh well, the next chapter will have some cute Royai so it will be more lighthearted!

In case anyone's wondering, Bajin is an OC but not a major character.


	6. Waterworks

Early morning rays of sun were barely stabbing their way through the thin red curtains in the room when Roy Mustang heard the first bark. The noise made him look up from his pillow lazily. His first thought was to roll over and go straight back to sleep. Roy was quite willing to say that the barking had been a dream and sleep in for a while. Unfortunately for him, his head had no sooner hit his pillow than he heard another bark.

Roy grudgingly got out of bed and made his way out of the room. As he walked over to the door to the bathroom Black Hayate barked again. This time he heard someone shushing the dog and then a yelp that sounded distinctly like Riza. When he heard a thud quickly after the yelp, Roy charged into the bathroom, ready for an emergency. His gloves were still downstairs in the study, but this didn't quite register before Roy ran in.

Riza looked at the door as Roy burst in and promptly slipped on a puddle of water on the floor in his haste. She hurried over to help him up.

"Hey, Hawkeye. Are you ok? I heard Hayate and then a thud and…" Roy trailed off when he realized that his lieutenant not only had no new injuries but she was actually laughing.

"I'm fine. Hayate was barking because he doesn't particularly enjoy baths. I put him in the tub and turned the water on, but the switch to make the water come from the bath spout rather than the shower head was broken." She laughed a little more at the look on Roy's face as she explained the perfectly mundane story.

"But, what was the louder noise? You sounded like you were in trouble." He protested, still trying to restore some of his dignity.

"I was surprised when the water came out through the shower head. That's the noise you heard. The thud was Hayate jumping out of the tub and slipping. He ran into the base of the sink. I appreciate the concern though." Roy was consoled a little, but the fact remained that he'd looked like a fool and was now sore from his fall.

"Well, I was worried there for a minute. So, where's the mutt I have to thank for that little incident?" He asked, looking around the bathroom. Riza turned to look as well. It was she that saw the wet trail though the only open door in the room. The trail disappeared once it hit the thick carpet of the next room. She hurried through the door into Roy's rooms with Roy right behind her.

The pair split up, looking under chairs and tables throughout the front room. Roy found it necessary to call the dog as he walked into his bedroom. He was greeted by a bark from the wet puppy curled up on his pillow.

"Great. Ok, come on pup. Come here." Roy called the dog, advancing toward the bed slowly. The puppy stood up, ready to play. Roy lunged onto the bed in an attempt to trap his quarry. Hayate had bounced off the bed and was running for the door before Roy hit the mattress. The fugitive veered off his original course when he saw his mistress standing in the doorway. Roy stood up behind the dog, effectively trapping him between the two humans. When he saw Riza open her mouth to give an order he followed suit.

"Hayate, come!" he called from behind the dog before Riza could form the words. The dog did an about face and walked to Roy, who promptly picked him up. "Ha, I am amazing. Come on Riza, thank me for corralling this wild dog!" He bragged all the way to the bathroom. Riza closed the door to the bathroom behind them.

"Fine. You can help me give the wild dog a bath then." Riza took the dog and placed him in the tub before forcing the switch down and turning the water back on. She sat down on the floor next to the tub, prompting Roy to do the same. Hayate jumped up to put his front paws on the side of the tub, soaking Riza's pajamas with water. Roy was surprised when he heard her laugh as she pushed the dog back into the tub.

"Roy, would you-" she stopped. A quizzical look came over her face when she turned to him to find him staring at her. "Would you turn the water off?" She finished her request before questioning him. "What? Do I have mud on my face?"

"Oh no, sorry. It's nothing." He shrugged, turning the water off and then returning his gaze to the dog. The truth was it had been a long time since he'd seen her as she was right then. Then again, maybe he had never seen her like that before. She wasn't buying his excuse, but grabbed some soap to attack the problem at hand. She managed to get a good bit of the grime off her dog while Roy held him still before any more mishaps occurred. As she reached for more soap to get the dirt out of Hayate's white coat, soapy water seemed to leap out of the tub at her.

"Which one of you did that?" She jokingly asked the two other creatures in the room. Her dog squirmed while Roy fought to keep a smile off his face. "Roy!

"Who, me? It was the dog!" He exclaimed.

"Right." She shook her loose hair out, sending a spray of water around her and onto Roy. He pulled back in surprise when the water hit him. Riza calmly resumed her washing. A moment later she was satisfied that the poor creature was as clean as he was going to get. "Hold him there for a moment more while I get a towel." When Riza turned to grab a towel off the sink another wall of water struck her back. Turning back quickly she took the dog out of Roy's hands. She toweled her pet off before setting him free.

"Wow, the infamous Riza Hawkeye lets me have the last say. This is new." Roy commented teasingly. Riza briefly weighed the options in her mind. She knew she shouldn't take the bait, but she _did_ have a reputation to uphold. She quickly reached past Roy to pull the plug out of the drain.

"We shall see who gets the last say, Colonel Mustang." She responded, splashing some of the draining water at him. Roy was stunned, but not so much so that he was unable to join the fierce splashing war that ensued. Soon they were both laughing, determined to soak each other with the quickly draining water. Hayate provided an audience, barking every time one of the combatants accidentally splashed him. At long last, Roy scooped up the last handful of water from above the drain and hurled it at Riza.

"See Riza? The best dog person got the last say. Someone inform the newspapers!" He crowed. When he finally stopped laughing he realized that Riza was still smiling in that way that tended to make the bottom drop out of his stomach. Then she delivered the final blow.

"Hayate," she called for the dog's attention. The dog looked up expectantly. "Go see Roy." She ordered, smiling as the sodden dog trotted over to the man. Comprehension began to dawn on Roy. _Oh sh-_ "Shake!" Riza ordered. The dog obeyed, showering Roy with cold water. "Yes Roy, I suppose the best dog person _did_ get the last say." She chorused as she led her secret weapon out of the bathroom, leaving a very wet Mustang standing in the bathroom.

About fifteen minutes after the water fight ended Roy knocked on the bathroom door to Riza's rooms. Riza was just putting on her earrings as she opened the door. "Come on in, I'm almost ready to go down to breakfast." She said by way of greeting. She indicated a chair as she walked into her bedroom. Roy seated himself, looking around the room.

This room was obviously routinely Riza's. He saw pictures sitting at the organized desk in the corner and a small gun case tucked into a corner of the room. Traces of a younger Riza lined the tops of the bookshelves along the wall opposite him. A picture of Riza and her father before Roy had arrived jumped out at him. The man obviously had not been consumed by his work yet, but he already had a look of sorrow around him. A separate, older picture showed a smiling young woman. Roy could see that she had some Ishbalan blood in her. He assumed that this was Mayaris. His eyes roved over the other pictures in the room until Riza returned, slipping on her shoes.

"Here, we'll go down to breakfast and then I'll give you the grand tour. I have to drop Black Hayate off with the off duty guards anyway. We can start our paperwork when the men get here." She laid her plan out as she led him down the stairs. As she led Roy through a few hallways, Roy began to despair of ever knowing his way around the house. They finally emerged in a small breakfast room off a large kitchen.

"Good morning Riza, Roy." Mayaris called as she retreated to the kitchen after setting a plate of toast on the table. Grumman repeated her greeting when the two took their seats. Riza and Roy returned the greetings to both of the older people.

"So Grandfather, when is this party that you started telling us about last night?" Riza asked as she buttered a slice of her toast, glancing up at her grandfather expectantly.

"I'm glad you asked. It is going to be tomorrow night. Most of the brass is coming, plus a number of other important people. A lot of the upper officers at Eastern are coming and all of the officers directly below me. Should be quite the shindig. The band is good and Mayaris is in charge of the caterers. I pity them, but there you go." Grumman exclaimed with a touch of sarcasm.

"What is the occasion, Mister Grumman?" Roy asked curiously.

"Well, young man, it is supposed to look like I'm trying to get back in the Fuhrer's good graces by throwing a big party for his wife's birthday. The reality of it is that I want to try to get some more information about something from General Raven, the Fuhrer, and the others." The host smiled wolfishly at his guests. "I'll need to play the host and flit around. You two can just wander around and entertain any power couples you happen to find interesting." He took an apple from the bowl on the table, speaking casually. "Speaking of power couples, Roy, this would be a wonderful opportunity for you to show off the future Fuhrer's wife."

"Sir?" Roy asked, not quite convinced that he had really heard what he thought he had.

"Grandfather!" Exclaimed Riza, stunned at his forwardness. Roy decided he must have heard correctly. The old man just shrugged.

"I've spoken to Roy about this too, Elizabeth. I think it's a good match. Honestly, I don't know how you can deny it. Can you imagine your lives without each other?" He let the question hang in the air for a minute before making a prudent exit. The silence was answer enough for now. "That's what I thought. Now, I'll head off to the office, before I tempt my granddaughter to break my rule about guns." The old man stood up and walked out, clearly unapologetic. The two he left behind him could only stare at his retreating back before quietly returning to their breakfasts, the unanswered question mixing with the awkward silence in the air.

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I love Lieutenant General Grumman! He is so fun. He's like an older version of Hughes that Roy can't attack!  Though I _do _think he might be OOC here… Opinions?


	7. Introductions and Rest

I am so sorry this took so long! I got caught up writing a few new one-shots (sadly, one died) and I had this amazing inspired moment that led me to write a chapter for later while I was "in the zone". Sorry!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far! That's cyclonealchemist, KTRose, winglessfairy25, kklegolas06, lili, hmmingbird, Lady Kanameko, Rhyssa Fireheart, OTP, icarus enjoyed the view, MoonStarDuchess, aqua-eyed mystery520, and stephy the great!

Now, on with the chapter! (There's a lot of background in here, but it will come in handy later. Please bear with me.)

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As Grumman left the house Roy and Riza sat in the breakfast room, eating their breakfasts in silence. When Riza finished her meal she spoke up.

"I'm going to wash my dishes. Come on out to the kitchen when you're done." She waited until he nodded before going into the kitchen. As she finished washing her dishes, he entered the kitchen. Roy cursed Grumman's timing as he washed the dishes. Riza had pulled back into her office personality, aloof and brisk. He just hoped she wouldn't stay that way. Riza led him out through the breakfast room and back into the hallway. They paused long enough for her to point out her grandfather's study again and a small bathroom before they reached the front hall.

"The party will be out here. They will open the doors to the parlor on the left and the ballroom off to the right. What you will be really interested in is through here." She indicated a door built into the side of the staircase, disguised as a part of the staircase's support. Riza opened the door carefully, revealing a small landing at the top of a narrow staircase. As he followed Riza down the stairs, he noticed how well she was managing the steep stairs. Either she had been up all night practicing, or the salve the doctor had given her. With Riza, he actually wondered for a minute which one it was. As he dwelled on this train of thought he almost ran into Riza at the bottom of the stairs.

The stairway had left them at the end of a dimly lit hallway. The hallway took a sharp turn and ended abruptly with two doors. Riza turned to Roy to explain. "The wine cellar, icehouse, and servant's quarters used to be down here. Since there are no full time servants anymore, and they don't need an icehouse, those sections were converted. The wine cellar is mostly intact. That's this door." She gestured to the door on the right before opening the left door.

Roy was surprised. He'd known that the Grummans were a big military family, wealthy, and the Lieutenant General was a bit of an eccentric, but _this _was a bit extreme, even for him. He could see a small shooting range through the first doorway on the left, and beyond were closed doors with signs on them Roy began reading them as Riza poked her head into the shooting range. _Cassidy, Wolfe, Cohler, Andars. _He read the words along the right wall, realizing that these must be the rooms that Grumman's men used. There were more names along the left wall, but he didn't have time to read them before a gunshot rang out, startling him into following Riza.

"Wolfe!" Rizacalled out, signaling to the gunner. Roy followed her into the shooting range as the woman in the room came over. "Roy, this is Lyn Wolfe. Lyn, this is Roy Mustang." She introduced them quickly.

"Nice to meet you." The young redhead piped. Roy nodded.

"Lyn is a sniper too. She's been under my grandfather's command for about two years." Riza explained. Roy's brow wrinkled at the mention of the young woman's specialty. Riza noticed his expression and hastened to put his confusion to rest. "She's too young to have been in Ishbal. Remember, I was pulled out of the Academy to go, no one younger than me would have been there." She reassured him.

"Yeah, I'm just 23. Young enough not to have been shipped out, old enough to have been compared to Riza in every marksmanship class. Though come to think of it, the instructors are probably still singing her praises." The girl joked before turning back to Riza. "James, Andars, Cohler, and I go on duty in about half an hour. I'll go get them." She hurried off to fetch the men.

"So," Roy glanced over at Riza. "Do you have competitor in her? I don't want to be known as the officer with the second best sniper in the army under his command." He joked, trying to help her relax a little.

"She doesn't have my experience. Someday she may be better than I am, but last time I was here she was new and a bit cocky." She shrugged, ready to leave it at that.

"You don't mean she challenged you in a contest?!?" He laughed incredulously.

Describing her as "cocky" was being generous, Roy thought. Cocky and stupid might suit that choice better. But the young woman seemed bright enough, and though he had only been in the house for a little while, he was already starting to sense a certain unusual unity in the house. It reminded him distinctly of his own office.

"She did. I think she was just trying to impress the guys. So we did have the contest…" Riza trailed off, shaking her head at the younger sniper's foolhardiness.

"And you taught me a lesson I will never forget." Finished the redhead as she reentered, this time followed by three men.

"Hawkeye, it's good to see you again. Maybe you can give Lyn here some more pointers, we all know she needs them." A slight man joked, coming forward to shake Riza's hand. The other two men nodded to her before laughing at the other man's joke.

"Hey! James, I'm not bad, just not as good as Hawkeye!" Yelped the sniper in question, smacking him laughingly. "And you are being rude. You haven't let Riza introduce the guest." She reprimanded him, still joking.

"Roy, this is James Cassidy. Cassidy, this is Roy Mustang. Cassidy is the C.O. of my grandfather's security" Riza introduced the two, seeing Cassidy's eyes widen at the Colonel's name. Riza knew that James was a soldier in Ishbal, she had met him there and introduced him to her Grandfather. He knew Roy by reputation.

"Hawkeye, we heard you were attacked. Are they after everyone who was there?" Cassidy asked offhandedly as he led them back into the hall. Riza shook her head, entering a common room down the hall from the range, behind him.

"No, Cassidy. It seems like they are just after the snipers for whatever reason. And now Roy because he had to get himself involved" She reassured him, a hint of reproach threading its way into the end of the comment.

"Riza, we have been over this. You know what would have happened if I hadn't come when I did." Roy shot back warningly. Cassidy coughed lightly to remind them of his presence. The two looked over at him, recalled from their argument long enough to sit down.

"But you both got out of there ok. And now you're with us, so you know nothing can happen to you." The man smiled at them reassuringly. "So, what's the damage? I heard there was someone else there too." He asked, looking his companions over for injuries. Riza began to speak, but Roy cut her off.

"Riza ripped up her knees on some shattered glass. She's got some other scratches beyond that." He explained, knowing Riza wouldn't tell the whole truth. Riza tried to pull the hem of her skirt down even further over her injured knees and bandages when Cassidy looked over at her.

"Do you remember Carol Warren? She was the sniper I used to bring to our mess sometime." Riza reminded her old comrade, a small expression of worry coming over her features.

"Yeah, I remember her. Nice girl. Oh no. Don't tell me she was the other person… Where is she?" He asked, as the truth slowly came over him.

"She's still in the hospital. The doctors wouldn't let her leave; the surgery didn't go well. She caught a bullet in the side. Grandfather ordered a guard for her." Riza explained, her frown growing deeper. As they sat there contemplating Carol's condition there was a sudden burst of talk in the hallway.

"Oh, sounds like the night guys are back. I've gotta go. Anything else you needed?" The man looked over at them as he stood to leave.

"Yes, would you mind taking care of Black Hayate?" Riza asked, glancing down at the ball of fluff sleeping near her feet. "I can't take him outside since I'm a target. Grandfather's orders." She explained.

"No problem. I'll tell the night guys we have a new recruit on the way out. See you later." Cassidy called as he headed out of the room. Roy turned to Riza as she rose from her seat.

"Was he…" Roy began, trailing off when he was sure Riza understood.

"Yes, he was part of the infantry. He was removed from the Crimson Alchemist's men three weeks before he turned on his men. James came and apologized to me for his C.O. without his knowledge when he singled me out once." Riza winced at the memories that came back at the mention of the alchemist. His kind was the reason alchemists were so frequently blamed for Ishbal.

She changed the subject quickly. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the night guard and then we can go back upstairs." Roy followed her out of the room, making a mental note to avoid the topic of the other alchemist in the future.

"Hawkeye! How are you?" A man a bit older than Roy called down the hall to Riza as she stepped out of the common room. "Ceras, Rawlant, the hawk is back! Carlis, get out here, the boss's granddaughter's here." He called to the other members of his watch as he walked down the hall. "Carlis is new since you were here last." He explained, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. "Speaking of new, who's this guy?" Riza looked at Roy's taken aback expression and smiled.

"Roy, this is Tanner Velta. Velta, this is Roy Mustang." The men briefly greeted each other as the three other men filtered into the hallway. "Tanner grew up in the same town as Havoc." Riza explained. Roy had _known_ Velta had reminded him of someone.

"Ceras, Rawlant, you know Hawkeye. And this is her colonel. You know, the one Havoc complains about so much." Velta introduced them, as Riza shook her head at his lack of tact. "Carlis, this is First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. She's the chief's granddaughter and can outshoot anyone. She comes around every now and then. And this is Colonel Roy Mustang, he's one of the best alchemists around." The young man saluted, his smile not reaching his dark eyes.

"Velta, we are going back upstairs. Havoc should come with our paperwork in about half an hour if you'd like to speak to him." Riza acknowledged the other men one last time before heading to the door. Roy followed quickly after her.

"What are you going to do until Havoc brings our work?" He asked as they ascended the stairs to the front hall.

"I thought I might read. If grandfather were here I'd play chess but as he's not-" She shrugged, waiting for a response before continuing on to her room.

"I'll play you." He answered, walking to the stairs. When he saw her slightly amused expression he laughed. "I need some way to redeem myself!" The poor man had no way of knowing how hard that would be.

"Fine, but I won't go easy on you. What's your record with my grandfather, eight losses?" She threw back at him as she carefully climbed the stairs. She was obviously trying not to put too much strain on her injuries. Roy sighed, for someone so down to earth and practical, Hawkeye had an amazing knack for be impractical about her own circumstances.

"Riza, have you considered just staying on one floor until tomorrow night so you'll feel better at the party?" He suggested the solution as they reached the top of the stairs. To his chagrin, Riza merely shook her head and ushered him into her rooms.

Once they were inside, Roy shut the door and Riza drew a small, folded chess set out from underneath her desk. She gently placed it on the table between the two armchairs in the room and opened the case. Roy took a seat to help her set the board.

"When did you start playing chess?" Tired of the silence, Roy tried to strike up a conversation.

"After Ishbal I received a letter from Central Headquarters. It was from my grandfather. He had seen my name on a list of soldiers and recognized it. He'd had Intelligence do some research and confirm that I was his granddaughter before contacting me. One of the first things he did as we got to know each other was teach me to play chess." She responded, moving one of her pale pawns.

"I learned from your father. Apparently he played chess with your grandfather before he took up alchemy and they stopped speaking." He moved a piece on the board and waited for Riza's next move.

They played in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds were the chessmen moving from place to place on the board. Roy removed one of his opponent's bishops as she spoke again.

"I'm sorry my grandfather has been pestering you." Riza cautiously broached the subject that had lingered around them all morning. She moved one of her pieces, not looking up at her opponent.

"Not at all. It's actually how I found out that you two were related. I had to trick Maes into finding information on the Lieutenant General's family. He was surprised when he found out who the granddaughter was." Riza laughed at the comment.

"Not nearly as surprised as I was, I can assure you. Why did you have to trick him?" Riza watched Roy's move with apprehension as he went to take one of her knights.

"Imagine if I told him that your grandfather had offered me his granddaughter. Maes would never have let it go. Aren't you glad I was that prudent?" He smirked, envisioning his lieutenant's response to hearing gossip about the proposed match. "He's spoken to you too, then? " He asked, more to ward off yet another long silence than anything else.

"Yes, I am thankful for your prudence and yes, he has spoken to me." Riza responded, still avoiding his gaze as she took one of his chessmen from the board. "He likes you, and he knows that my father approved of you at least enough to train you." Upon placing the piece to the side, Riza looked up at her companion.

"At least." Roy agreed, continuing the game and eliciting a questioning glance from the woman opposite him. "Nothing, just something your father said before he died." He tried to dismiss it, but Riza stopped him.

"What did he say? When I heard you call I heard him apologize for not being around, but that's all." Roy sat back, looking intently at her, not making the slightest motion to put the queen in his hand down.

"I won't tell your grandfather if you don't want me to, but your father said something about you to me before he died. I remembered it last night." Roy paused, trying to decide whether or not to tell her.

"Roy, please. I want to know." Riza's voice shook with the unusual traces of strain. Roy was taken aback for a moment before answering.

"He told me 'Roy, I'll leave my daughter to you.' Those were his exact words." Roy almost regretted telling her at the look of shock that came over her face. Riza lapsed into a pensive silence for a moment before allowing herself to speak.

"Thank you for telling me." She said, her voice a little tight with surprise and emotion. "But you're right. We'd never get a moment's peace if my grandfather were to hear that. Particularly my father's exact words." Roy put the queen down where he wanted it gently.

"Are you ok?" His tone was full of concern, but all Riza could do was nod certainly before they heard they heard someone calling them.

"Colonel? Lieutenant?" Havoc's raspy tones rang though the front hall, barely reaching them, ensconced as they were in Riza's rooms. Riza began to rise, but Roy gestured firmly to her to keep her seat. He stood, accidentally bumping into the table so a few chessmen fell, before hastening to the door.

As he left, Riza brushed quickly at her eyes, trying to compose herself. Sighing, she surveyed the ruined game. She hadn't thought she would be so affected. After all, she had barely spoken to her father around the time of his death.

Roy hurried down the stairs to get the papers from Havoc and Furey. Furey handed him the papers as Havoc spoke. "Chief, where's Hawkeye?" He inquired, anxious to garner some information for the bet.

"Riza's upstairs. I am insisting that she relax for a while so she can heal." He responded, tiredly regarding the paperwork. "All of this is for us?"

"Yes, sir." Furey quipped, not noticing the man coming from behind his superior officer. Havoc, on the other hand did.

"Hey Tanner. How's it going?" He asked cheerily, struck by a sudden inspiration.

"I'm going upstairs to get working on this before Riza comes out here with a gun." Roy excused himself as the two old friends began conversing. As he climbed the stairs, he was oblivious to the conversation going on below him. Havoc and Furey were eagerly explaining their bet to Velta and asking for his help with surveillance. Roy did however, hear the man's response as he stooped to pick up a dropped piece of paper.

"Sure I'll keep an eye on them. But I think I'm with Furey on this one. There's definitely something going on. Cassidy said they were bickering like an old, married couple earlier. Four days seems like plenty of time."

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Ah, that's long. I hope you were able to put up with the movement and conversation, I know it's a little awkward. Major bonus points for anyone who can tell me where I came up with the name "Velta". hint: He's in the manga and mentioned only once, in a flashback.


	8. Amendments and Interrogations

I'm sorry about the wait! I've been ill. Now for a quick preemptive comment: I generally really don't like it when authors just make up random things that are absolutely impossible in the original story. What I've done here is make up something that probably not happen, but is semi-plausible. I tried alternatives, but they started squishing my fluff, which cannot be allowed. Fluff trumps ALL! (You can tell I've been writing one of my favorite chapters in this story, it's pure, plot related fluff, and it is coming up in a few chapters!)

Special Thanks to: Lady Kanameko, OTP, kuroxdoragon, winglessfairy25, Dailenna, and cyclonealchemist!

Bonus Points to: OTP, who knew where I got the name Velta from!

Enjoy!

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Shrugging his confusion off, Roy returned to Riza's rooms. The blonde was cleaning up the chess game quietly, but Roy could still see that she was blinking too frequently. He set the papers down on her desk and crossed the room to help clean up the table. As Roy picked up his king, he noticed something strange.

"Riza, this chessman's hollow. Did you know about that?" He asked, handing the piece to its owner. Riza took it from him and picked up a small, round piece from the table.

"Yes, my grandfather used to leave me notes in here." She put the bottom back on the piece before setting it in the case fondly. "We started keeping a tally of our matches inside. He glued it into his notebook when I moved into my own apartment." Riza paused, swept up in a tide of memories. "But it's been a while. We really should get going on this paperwork." She finished packing up the case and put it away. Ignoring Roy's groans, Riza swept over to the pile of papers and began sorting them into piles, one for the Colonel and one for herself.

In short order, she was placing a pen and a pile of papers on the table Roy had seated himself at. To her great surprise, Roy began working almost immediately. Perhaps the prospect of living with an angry Hawkeye for at least another few days was motivation enough for him.

He held strong for about an hour before his attention began to wander. He went back to looking around the room, his eyes finally settling on its sole other occupant. He watched the way she carefully signed each paper, impatiently flicked her hair out of her eyes, and glared when she caught him watching her. She was dignified even when she was bemused or irritated. Oh wait, that wasn't a good thing…

"Colonel? Have you finished your paperwork already? You can always have these reports on yesterday if you need more work." Her threat did not fall on deaf ears, and Roy hastened to return to his work. Dignified or not, Hawkeye's threats were real. To his credit, he lasted until Mayaris brought lunch up to the room for them.

"I was starting to wonder if you two were coming down, so I decided to bring some food up here." She explained, taking Riza's papers away and putting them on a bookshelf with Roy's.

"Thank you, Mayaris." Riza took the plates from where her friend had left them on the desk and put them down on the table. Roy expressed his thanks when his stomach growled loudly at the sight of the food. Laughing, Mayaris waved and left the room.

"Riza, how are we doing on paperwork?" Roy asked Riza as she looked over at the piles.

"Well, I'm not sure how it happened, but you got about three quarters of it done this morning. You might be a bad influence on the men, but you seem to work harder without them to distract you." She was impressed, if a little put out that all this time he would have worked better without the men around. Roy grinned sheepishly. It wasn't exactly the men that distracted him usually… The fact that Riza hadn't been distracted by watching them had made it harder for him to watch her when he got tired of his work.

"Well, you know I can get work done if I really want to. Perhaps if I had more motivation other days I would work better." He was only half joking, but Riza's "hawk eyes" weren't quite good enough to see that.

"True, on days you have dates you do move more quickly to finish your work. Though I fail to see how that applies here." She wondered aloud, not really expecting a response. She got one anyway.

"True, my date isn't until tomorrow night, but I can still look forward to a rematch tonight, right?" He asked playfully. Riza didn't understand what he meant at first. When she did understand, she felt it was necessary to instill a little caution in the colonel.

"I'd not call it a date. The anti-fraternization orders are strict." She scolded gently, careful not to object too vehemently.

"Well I would call it a date, Lieutenant. There's a memo about a revision to the orders you mentioned in my finished paperwork. There was also a note from Maes saying that apparently, a certain officer told the Fuhrer's wife about the number of relationships within chains of command that would not disrupt work, but are against regulations nonetheless. He said that the Fuhrer's wife took it up with the Fuhrer, so he revised the order to have an exception for relationships that do not interfere with the quality of a unit's work." He smirked triumphantly over a spoon of soup as Riza walked around him to shuffle through his papers. He knew that she'd found it when the sound of the papers stopped. She walked back to her seat bearing the document.

"It seems that you're right. I guess it is a date then." She put the paper down between them on the table, a trace of a smile apparent on her face. "Do I want to know who that 'certain officer' was?" She suddenly adopted the cold, level tone that Roy had come to associate with imminent misery for someone in the vicinity.

"The note said that it was Lieutenant General Grumman." Roy cringed as he delivered the information, he was a little afraid she might literally shoot the messenger. He needn't have worried. Riza looked like she might start banging her head against a wall, but she hadn't drawn a gun yet. In fact, Roy realized, she had never actually threatened him with her gun, but it was easy enough to imagine that she might. Instead she just sat, staring at the paper for a moment. Roy looked up as the door to the room opened and the lieutenant general himself strolled in.

"Hello there you two!" he called as he strolled into the room. Spotting the paper, he smiled broadly. "I see you found my little bit of legislation." They looked at him blankly. First this morning and now this? Riza decided to move as far away from that topic as possible for then.

"Grandfather, you're home early. Did Bajin find anything?" The grin on Grumman's features melted away. He was all business now that she'd drawn him away from his favorite topic.

"He found some things, and he has a rat hired as of this morning. The rat's pretty low level though, so he probably won't be able to warn us of future attacks. He did say that his boss was mad." Grumman hesitated slightly before elaborating. "Apparently he ordered them to aim for you first. It would appear that he knew that you would be more heavily armed and more able to fight back quickly." Riza looked taken aback at this news. Roy frowned, couldn't Grumman have been gentler in telling her? But no, the stress was bringing out the similarities between Hawkeye's work mentality and her grandfather.

"So they meant to kill Riza first? They thought they had when they shot Carol?" He asked quickly, his concern all too evident. As soon as the words escaped him, Roy kicked himself for dwelling on the topic that had so obviously affected Hawkeye.

"That's what it looks like. But that's not all." The lieutenant general seemed eager to move on too. "I passed Riza's suggestion on to Bajin. The guns they were using were ours. One of them forgot to remove the army's seal. That means they probably have at least one source in the military." He paused for a beat to let the information sink in before forging on. "There's something else odd. The report says that the Ishbalan man in charge is having some well-known mercenaries help him. The military uses these people if they don't want to get their hands dirty. None of them are Ishbalan. The Ishbalan insists that they're only there to help, but you have to wonder how he got the money to hire them and why they'd work against some of their best clients." Grumman shook his head. " I'll let you know if I hear any more. I am going to go work from my study for the rest of the day. Give me a call if you need anything." Grumman cast a quick glance back at Riza as he left. He obviously intended to give her more time to compose herself quietly before asking for her analysis of the new information.

When the older man had gone, Roy turned to Riza. She was sitting quietly in her seat, staring into space beyond her almost full soup bowl. One of her hands slowly made its way up to twist a lock of her hair agitatedly as Riza frowned. Roy could see that the news that she had been the target of the bullet that had wounded her friend had fazed her.

"Riza." He spoke the name once, trying to call her back from her thoughts. Her lack of response only served to concern him further. He carefully reached across the table and drew her hand away from the distressed lock of blonde hair. She blinked slowly at the touch, finally bringing her eyes to focus on their hands suspended over the forgotten paper.

"They meant to shoot me first. If only I hadn't let my guard down, Carol wouldn't have gotten hurt." Riza scolded herself, pulling her hand away to gather her dishes. Roy's abandoned hand moved quickly to stay hers.

"Riza, you let your guard down to have a drink and talk with your friend. You are allowed to do that every once in a while, no matter what they say, you are human." He gently pulled her back down to her seat and nodded at the bowl in her hand.

Riza bit back a response, obediently sitting back down and picking up her spoon. When he was content that Riza was going to heed his silent advice, Roy cleared his dishes to the corner of Riza's desk and pulled out his pile of unfinished paperwork. He sat down to work across from Riza at the small table and silence reclaimed the room. The only sounds were the quiet scratching of his pen and the clink of Riza's spoon against her bowl.

After a few minutes, Riza cleared her dishes away and resumed her paperwork as well. They finished the remaining paper much faster than they had expected. It only took them about three hours, despite Roy's frequent glances at his coworker to check on her. After that time it seemed that Riza was willing to discuss the developments.

"What do you make of the fact that they have mercenaries working with them?" She asked as she watched him triumphantly drop his finished paperwork onto the desk with a slight thump.

"I'm not sure what to make of it. It seemed that they had plenty of men without the mercenaries. The only thing I can think is that their boss is using the Ishbalan men's thirst for vengeance for his own agenda. He must want someone or some people dead that the Ishbalans would not agree to killing. Or perhaps they would, but they are wanted dead for a different reason. Does that make sense? Then the mercenaries would be there to make sure the right people die. What concerns me is the fact that they have at least one source in the military."

"Your theory does make some amount of sense, but you still have to wonder why the mercenaries are working against the military. As for the source, I already suspected that they had one. I think my grandfather did, but he didn't mention it to spare us his reasoning." Riza said quietly as she rearranged the papers that Roy had just dropped.

"You did? How did you suspect that?" Riza frowned a little at the question.

"My 'efficiency' during the war, as they called it, is not well known even inside the military. One of the men addressed me as the 'the infamous Elizabeth Hawkeye'. That implies a certain amount of knowledge about my role in the war. I assumed that it was from a source in the military. I'm sure my grandfather did too." Riza explained. She slowly walked over to the gun case as she spoke.

"What are you going to do now?" Roy asked, watching her. His eyes widened as he saw that Riza was slowly unbuttoning her shirt as she faced the wall.

He was momentarily transported to the last time she had done just that and guilt began rolling over him. He remembered seeing the tattoo of the array people now associated with him for the last time, whole and unaltered, before he had destroyed part of it. Riza glanced back at him, allowing the shirt to slip down off her shoulders and reveal the black shirt she was wearing beneath it before answering.

"I thought I'd go down to practice my aim in the cellar. Since I have a few free hours I thought I might ask Velta to show me my grandfather's additions too." She responded, shedding the button down shirt. Roy could finally see the purpose for her removing it. To his great surprise, he saw that she was wearing her shoulder holsters over the black shirt.

He almost laughed at her intentions, but refrained. If one person in Eastern Headquarters did not need to practice his or her aim, it was Riza. But that probably had something to do with how much she practiced, so he wouldn't complain. Not to mention the number of times she'd saved his neck with that aim. It had even reunited them in Ishbal. No, he reflected. He definitely wasn't going to complain if she wanted to practice. In fact…

"I'm going to come with you." He announced, fishing around in his pockets for his gloves. When he glanced up from his empty pockets, Riza was looking at him with a mildly incredulous look on her face. "What else am I going to do? Besides, someone needs to be with you to remind you that you're injured." He flashed her one of his typical grins before walking out of the room. Riza followed him out and closed the door soundly behind them, carefully resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

Riza proceeded straight down to the cellar, but Roy paused in the front hall. He strolled over to Grumman's study and knocked on the heavy doors.

"Come in!" Came the shout from within, and Roy opened the door. He found the Lieutenant General at his desk looking over some papers. The older man looked up when he heard his visitor enter the room. "Oh Roy, it's you. I wasn't expecting my granddaughter to let you leave your paperwork until you'd finished." He chuckled a little at his own observation as he rose from his desk.

"Actually, we've both finished our work for today. She's gone down to the cellar to shoot a little. She says she needs to practice to improve her aim. She doesn't need it, but I thought I'd pick my gloves up from in here and make sure she doesn't work too hard." He explained, crossing to retrieve his gloves from the table he'd left them on.

"Well, I must say I'm not surprised she went straight to practice after finishing her work." Grumman barely paused before transitioning quickly to the subject of Riza's wellbeing. "Roy, please take a seat, I wanted to ask you about how she's doing." Grumman asked, his tone was a little pleading, he knew his granddaughter had been hurt by his news. But Roy was unnerved by the eyes behind his glasses, they conveyed something else. The look there was strangely reminiscent of the one Roy had received from Riza just that morning before she had had Black Hayate drench him. Roy cautiously sat down, not really sure what Grumman was about to ask him.

"Is Elizabeth alright? She looked like she was taking my news hard." Grumman inquired.

"I think she will be fine. She's strong, but she'll take it very badly if something further happens to her friend. Have you received your report on her condition today?" Roy responded, probing for more information.

"I have. The nurses say that she's still not herself after surgery. She's listless and her wound needs frequent cleaning. They're not saying anything about it, but it sounds like the surgery was even harder for her than they let on. I'm going to tell Riza that she's still getting there and she's still far from being well if she asks, but I don't want to worry her." Grumman explained, traces of concern eating at the edges of his voice.

"That sounds wise. I don't think worrying Riza further will do her any good. She worries enough as it is." Roy agreed. He folded his gloves carefully and put them in his pocket. He was just beginning to feel better about the conversation when Grumman struck.

"So, have you had an opportunity to think about my question from earlier?" Roy stiffened, startled once again by the suddenness of Grumman's questions. He looked cautiously over at the older man, searching to see if he was going to let him off the hook again. Grumman's steady gaze convinced him that there was no easy way out. Roy thought for a moment before answering.

"Well, I have had some time to think about it, but I don't have a definite answer for you." Roy tried evading the question in vain.

The glasses flashed as Grumman reacted to Roy's evasion. He smiled warmly as he moved in for the kill. The young man was good, but the Lieutenant General had been having these cryptic, beating around the bush conversations since long before the Colonel was born. He didn't stand a chance.

"Roy, it's a simple question. Can you imagine your life without my granddaughter around?" Grumman's second question was more to the point. He'd made it quite clear that he wasn't going to let Roy dodge the question. The younger man decided that it would be best to bite the bullet then rather than drag their little session out.

"No, Mr. Grumman. I've thought about it, and while I can certainly imagine life without Riza, I certainly don't relish the idea. I'd be insane or dead by now if it weren't for her. As for the future, I know there are only two reasons she would not stay with me. I certainly hope it neither comes to pass." He fell silent, having finally voiced what he had known for a long time, if only subconsciously. Grumman laughed triumphantly as he rose from the seat he'd taken to clap Roy on the back. The admission had been purely from a work standpoint, but the question was out in the open and the answer had been buried in the response. It would do for then.

"Well, I'm glad to know you've come to your senses young man. Just know that you have my blessing, as I've shown with that bit of legislation. It's unofficially dedicated to my two favorite couples." Roy shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he received the older man's sentiments.

"Sir, I think Riza may still have reservations despite your amendment." Roy stepped back a little. "I'm sure she'll be concerned about the advisability of any relationship beyond what we have right now. We'll figure it out on our own." Roy stood, the respectful hint to leave them alone clear to Grumman.

As soon as Roy walked out of the room Grumman walked resolutely to his desk. There, a relationship beyond the one they had now had been brought up, and Roy knew what he wanted. Grumman smiled craftily, he was too good at this. Jubilation coursed through his brain as he replayed the conversation in his head. But his triumph would have to wait. Getting Roy to admit his feelings was only one small step.

He would ease off them a little now that he'd brought Roy to his senses, but there was still work to be done. He had taken it upon himself to shore up the relationship between the two, while trying to keep them alive long enough for them to reach their goal. It was going to be hard work.

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I don't like the way this turned out, but it had to happen. I am so sorry for the weird-ness of my amendment, I am ashamed.


	9. Just a Normal Day at Grumman's

I'm soooo sorry, my internet went down, then my computer, then life got hectic. I'll try to get a new chapter up soon. Please forgive me, I know this isn't great, but it's decent.

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Roy carefully closed the door to Grumman's study behind him and walked quickly away from the room. He only slowed down when he reached the doors in the cellar, some part of his brain secretly still afraid that Grumman would chase after him with more soul searching questions. As he entered the soldiers' hall, Roy heard the steady reports of gunfire coming from the shooting range next to him.

He walked in and saw Riza glaring at the target she had just shot at. She stood just in front of it, examining her work with slight irritation. Roy walked over to look at the target with her. He looked the target over, noticing tight clumps of bullet holes in all of the key areas.

"What's the matter, Riza?" He asked, silently counting the bullet holes. She looked over at him, the irritation not quite gone from her face.

"This one's off." She worried, pointing to a bullet hole slightly above the cluster of similar holes over the area representing the target's heart. Roy shook his head, pulling on his gloves.

"It's only a little off the main group. The rest of the shots were pretty close to perfect. Now, are you going to save this to beat yourself up over?" He asked, taking the paper from her. Riza shook her head, still glaring at the paper in his hands. The alchemist promptly crumpled it up and tossed it into the air a few feet in front of them. With a quick snap, he incinerated the offending target and turned back to Riza. "Come on, try again. I'll use your targets for my practice."

Riza nodded and took up her position again, watching her CO find a comfortable place on the wall to lean while he waited for the target. Once sure that he was out of harm's way, she raised her gun and began firing again, re-accustoming herself to the way firing the weapon felt with injuries. When she had emptied two clips into the target, she retrieved the target for inspection. Better, but there was still room for improvement. She balled the target up and handed it to Roy without comment before returning to her post. They continued on like that for a while, Roy keeping a close watch on the sniper to make sure she didn't overexert herself, before Mayaris came down to ask for Riza's help preparing dinner. Roy waved her on before retiring to the soldiers' common room to further acquaint himself with the night guard.

"So, how has your day been?" Mayaris asked as they walked up the stairs.

"It's been long. I took Roy on the grand tour this morning. We played chess until the men arrived with the paperwork. We did paperwork until you brought lunch and then Grandfather came home. He had some news and we resumed work after he left. When we finished our work early we went downstairs, that's where you found us." Riza responded, her forehead creasing a little as she remembered the news. She had pushed it to the back of her mind while she'd been downstairs. Mayaris just smiled at her. She knew, of course, what Riza was thinking about, but she'd picked up on something else.

"I heard a whole lot of 'we' in there, miss. Is there something I ought to know?" She teased gently, following Riza into the kitchen and beginning to shred lettuce at the counter. Riza looked over at her quickly as she drew a knife out of the block and began cutting up the peppers before her.

"I don't know. We're going to Grandfather's party together because of that amendment he manipulated the Fhurer's wife into supporting. But Roy and I have known each other forever, and I still can't get a good read on what he's thinking about me." The poor peppers were being cut up more quickly now, Riza was getting a little frustrated.

"You mean you two are going as a couple?" Mayaris picked up a few mushrooms and began slicing them. She watched Riza as she deftly maneuvered the implement, noting her frustration and the trace of sadness lurking on her face. Mayaris had met Riza even before her Grandfather had, and she could see straight through her, even when Riza was fooling herself.

"Yes, it is a date. A bit of a strange one, but a date." Riza nodded, tossing her peppers into the bowl and moving on to the next ingredient.

Mayaris looked thoughtful for a moment. Her wise, old face pensive as she mixed the salad. She carefully calculated her response before speaking.

"That's good. He seems like a good man, especially from what you've told me about his plans. He is afraid of me, which is too bad, I'd like to get to know the man that my Riza is following. How old is he?" Riza smiled sadly at the old woman as she began mixing the dressing for the salad.

"He is twenty nine. And you have to understand why he is afraid of you. He isn't exactly accustomed to having Ishbalans want anything better than a painful death for him. I don't think even you would have given me a chance when I came after the war if it hadn't been for what happened."

"True. That's why you told him that I was a friend of your grandmother's, right? Regardless, I'm glad he isn't too old for my grandniece." Mayaris set the salad down and hugged Riza. "So, tell me more about this young man. I know it takes an awful lot to interest you, sweetheart." Riza laughed. She would normally not want to talk about this to anyone except perhaps Gracia, but Mayaris was the closest thing to a mother she could easily remember, and she found herself wanting to tell her all about it. They chatted quietly as they set the table and finished preparing the meal for all of the people in the house. When it was finally all done, they separated to call the other members of the household to dinner.

The rest of the evening went smoothly. When everyone had finished dinner the night shift guards went out to relieve their companions and Mayaris served them their dinners. Roy and Riza were called away from a chess game Roy was playing against Grumman when Mayaris escorted a terrified Fuery and Havoc into the study.

"Lieutenant General, Colonel, Lieutenant." The pair saluted quickly, each casting an anxious glance at Riza. They hadn't seen her since she might have overheard their bet.

Roy glanced between his subordinates and the Lieutenant General. It would make sense for the lower officers to be afraid of the Lieutenant General, but the fear definitely seemed to be directed at his granddaughter. That was normal enough, but this seemed like something a bit different from their normal caution around her.

"Well, now that you have company I think I'll retire for the evening." Grumman commented, "Goodnight Elizabeth, Roy." The two waved back politely before turning back to the visitors.

"Sir, I'll go get the work that we finished. Fuery, may I have what you all finished today?" Riza waited for the young man to hand her the stack of papers patiently, shooting a warning look at her superior officer. She didn't want to put up with any more worry about her injuries. Roy shrugged in response. It wouldn't do any good to fight with her over it.

"Hey, chief? We saw Velta on the way in and he said there was something we ought to know about the Lieutenant General and the Lieutenant. Do you know anything about it?" Havoc asked curiously, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. Roy hesitated for a minute or two. He really didn't feel that it was his place to tell them.

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, maybe she worked for him before she worked with us? Of course, that doesn't seem too important, but that's what Fuery came up with." Havoc threw the idea out there. Fuery glared at Havoc for bringing up his idea. He knew it didn't seem important, so why did he bring it up?

"Hawkeye fought in Ishbal before she started working for me, Havoc. You shouldn't be so inquisitive about your superiors." Roy tried to dissuade them from following the line of questioning, but Havoc was not ready to let it go.

"Chief, you know! Come on. Tell us. You can tell us the news about what Intelligence has picked up at the same time." He wheedled. This time Fuery spoke up too.

"Please, sir. We're afraid it might have something to do with why she was attacked!" He begged. Roy sighed and sank down into the chair Riza's grandfather had used the night before. He could tell that Fuery was genuinely concerned. Roy was saved the necessity of answering when Riza reentered the room; her face clearly asking what Fuery's comment had been about.

"Velta told them that there is something they should know about the Lieutenant General and you. Fuery is concerned that it may have something to do with why you were attacked. I was about to tell them that that wasn't the case. They also wondered if there was any more news about your attackers." Roy explained warily.

Riza closed her eyes for a moment as though to ward off the impending questions. She then crossed to the couch and sat down at the end near Roy. Fuery and Havoc watched her with some trepidation. They followed her lead and sat down in two of the other armchairs near the fire.

"Thank you for waiting for me." Riza murmured under her breath to Roy as the other two seated themselves. Roy just smiled encouragingly and caught one of her hands in his. He gave it a light squeeze before releasing it as Riza smiled and turned back to the visitors. The men in question had been fortunate enough not only to witness the exchange, but also to have just managed to fight down their astonished grins when Riza turned back to them.

"I appreciate your concern, but you should know that this has nothing to do with the attack. Very few people know about it, I don't bandy it about, and there is nothing truly sinister about the information." She warned.

Havoc opened his mouth to protest, but clamped it shut almost immediately. To his great surprise, the mousy younger man next to him had jumped in with an objection very quickly.

"Ma'am, if there's nothing sinister about it, why all the secrecy? Why don't many people know about it?"

"Fuery, since when have you known Riza to be particularly talkative about her personal life?" Roy retorted. He was obviously on the defensive for his Lieutenant and wound a little tight. A warning look from the Lieutenant in question calmed him down visibly, but he'd gotten his point across.

"Oh, sorry sir. You're right, of course. The Lieutenant rarely speaks about herself. There was actually a pool a while ago about how long you two'd known each other before the rest of us came along… I don't think it was ever resolved." Fuery mused. He was oblivious to Havoc's frantic gestures to stop speaking.

"Is that so? Well… for your information, gentlemen, the Lieutenant General is my grandfather. As for how long Roy and I have known each other, I think you'd be surprised." She said. The men were caught between terror at the irritation in her voice and amazement. Havoc's cigarette fell from his lips and Fuery was frozen. Roy chuckled, leaning forward to pick the cigarette up before it burned through the carpet.


	10. More Broken Glass

Ahh! Sorry that the last chapter ended at such a weird point. I was really eager to get that chapter up, so it cut off at an awkward moment. I'm also working on the first few chapters of a pair of new fics, so keep an eye out for them. (Not Royai, but I hope they'll still be decent!)

Please note: There will be some talk about Grumman's role in the war in this and later chapters. His role is totally my creation; there are no canon references to it.

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: This chapter references manga chapter 57 and the scenes of Riza's past later on. These do not appear in the anime.

Thank you all for your kind reviews after my extended absence! And without further ado, a short recap and then on to the story!

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"Oh, sorry sir. You're right, of course. The Lieutenant rarely speaks about herself. There was actually a pool a while ago about how long you two'd known each other before the rest of us came along… I don't think it was ever resolved." Fuery mused. He was oblivious to Havoc's frantic gestures to stop speaking.

"Is that so? Well… for your information, gentlemen, the Lieutenant General is my grandfather. As for how long Roy and I have known each other, I think you'd be surprised." She said. The men were caught between terror at the irritation in her voice and amazement. Havoc's cigarette fell from his lips and Fuery was frozen. Roy chuckled, leaning forward to pick the cigarette up before it burned through the carpet.

"Why didn't ya tell us that?! No one knows that, you don't even have the same last name!" Havoc spluttered, snatching his cigarette back from Roy. Fuery was similarly astonished and momentarily shocked out of his inhibitions around his superiors.

"But, that… That _could _be why they're attacking you! Maybe this group has some great, great, big grudge against your grandfather from the war, and they're out to get you to pay him back! Maybe… maybe some of your grandfather's troops killed some elder's granddaughter, and now they're after you!" Roy and Riza could almost see the scenario playing out over Fuery's head. They both stifled laughs.

"Fuery, I'm sure this has nothing to do with him. He was shot in the leg before the conflict really started. His injury and other circumstances led to his commanding the troops at Briggs in the North. That's why we do training exercises with Briggs troops these days. He met Major General Armstrong while he was in command of Briggs. Deep down, they're two of a kind." Riza said calmly, trying to placate the young man, whose imagination was clearly still running rampant.

Havoc, after his initial outburst, had been overwhelmed by the influx of new information. He now had his cigarette back in his mouth, but was looking off into space. It was clear that he was not going to be coherent for a little while. Even Roy was a little surprised at what Hawkeye had just said.

"Wait…You just said they're two of a kind? Does that mean Armstrong's really like your grandfather?" He tried to picture the Major General joking like Grumman and playing chess with subordinates. He failed. That idea was a little too strange. It was almost frightening to think about. "Or do you mean your grandfather's really like her?" He imagined Grumman looking as determined as Armstrong and just as ruthless. Now _that_ was downright terrifying.

Riza laughed at the men's antics. "Which do you think?" Roy opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. Riza, turned to the other two men. "Havoc, close your mouth. Fuery, stop. My grandfather had nothing to do with it."

Havoc's mouth closed automatically and Fuery stopped babbling, but neither completely snapped out of it. Their superior frowned. She really didn't have the patience to deal with this right now. Being tired and (though she'd never admit it out loud) a little sore, did not make Riza particularly happy to be dealing with her sometimes moronic subordinates (and superior). It was time to swallow her pride and get out of there.

"Roy, I'm getting tired. Would you mind explaining to these two what we found out? I need to sleep before my grandfather's party."

Roy looked over at her concernedly. Since when did Hawkeye admit that she needed rest? "Of course, I'll explain. You need help going upstairs?" Riza gave him a cool look that clearly warned him not to push it, she was going upstairs but she _did not_ need help.

"Thank you, but I'll be fine. Goodnight, gentlemen. Thank you for your concern." Riza walked briskly out of the room and closed the door behind her. Her superior officer was left looking after her. After a moment, Havoc cleared his throat. Roy quickly turned back to begin explaining the information that they had received that day.

The man climbed nimbly over the fence. He had overheard the mercenary commander speaking to his leader earlier in the evening. What he had heard had prompted him to go out on this little expedition. _Fool! Your idiots couldn't even hit the right woman! She killed half of them! That woman murdered in the massacre and taught that alchemist his alchemy and your men let her get away!_

He had almost given himself away at that point by gasping. The woman knew alchemy? She taught the alchemist that had killed his brother in the attack on the apartment? He had managed to stay quiet long enough to hear the a little more as the pair approached around the corner. His leader had argued with the cruel soldier of fortune. _We do not know that she taught him he alchemy. All we know is that something that looks quite like his array is tattooed on her back. And I will remind you that some of your men failed to kill her in the attack as well. _They had rounded the corner then, and their eavesdropper had rushed off in a rage.

If the woman was really involved in something as ungodly as alchemy in addition to her crimes in the massacre, he couldn't bear to let her live.

That was how he had wound up running from shadow to shadow towards the large house with a gun slung over his back. If he saw her through the window he could shoot. He might be able to get the alchemist too he mused. The assassin crept closer. At one point, he was almost certain that he had been seen by a guard roaming the property, but the guard had not said anything. He had either been mistaken or the guard was the one he had heard about. The man finally reached the one group of illuminated windows on the side of the house facing him. He cautiously peered in through the window.

He could see three figures sitting in the room, speaking quietly. He strained to hear what they were seeing as he inspected them. The lights were mostly behind them and the glass was old and wavy, so it was hard to distinguish their features.

"Sorry boss, but I don't know that I trust her. I mean, I know she lives with the Lieutenant General and all, but the old woman _is_ Ishbalan. Who's to say she's not working with these guys?" Came one gravelly voice. He was pretty sure it came from the shape with the cigarette. Well, that ruled him out as the alchemist.

"Havoc, the Lieutenant General trusts Mayaris and she had lived here for years. She seems to care about what happens to Riza, so I don't think she would be complicit in any attempt on her life." Came the stern reply. The Ishbalan's focus slid to the figure that had just spoken. It seemed that this was the alchemist. He was fairly certain that the smallest figure was male too, which meant that his primary target wasn't in the room.

The men in the room continued to debate about whether the Ishbalan woman was trustworthy as the man outside pondered his situation. He could try to kill the alchemist, but he wasn't sure of his aim through the distorting glass. He didn't like the idea of being burned if he missed. But if he couldn't kill the woman, he wanted to scare her. And there was also the fact that there was an Ishbalan woman in the household. They hadn't known that.

After a few minutes, the intruder decided what to do. He fished around in the small pack of ammo that he had brought until he found what he was looking for. He took the pen he had carelessly tossed in earlier out of the bag and cast around on the ground. It didn't take long to find a large, relatively flat rock to write on. After hurriedly penning his message on the rock by the light pouring out of the room, he stole away from the window.

Havoc had finally conceded that it didn't seem likely that Mayaris was involved when the projectile crashed through the window. The three men hastily got down, Fuery and Havoc drawing guns while Roy pulled on his ignition gloves. They quickly realized that it was just a rock and Fuery started toward the window, still quivering a little from the surprise. Havoc pulled him back. This was the problem with soldiers without combat experience. He hadn't learned that a stunt like that could just be used to lure them to the window to be killed quickly. He and Roy had.

The colonel shot a tongue of flame through the broken glass. When there was no response, Havoc cautiously walked over and looked out. The only figures he could see were two guards rushing over to see what the noise had been. "Clear." He reported. His superior nodded and picked up the cigarette that Havoc had dropped yet again. Fortunately, it was out this time. Tossing it into the fireplace, Roy walked over to inspect the rock lying in the middle of the room.

As he picked it up, the Riza rushed into the room, hair still dripping from a shower and gun drawn. When she saw that there was no immediate danger, she put the gun in the pocket of her robe and walked over to look at what Roy was inspecting. Grumman wheezed as he entered the room quickly and joined them. Havoc was at the broken window sending the guards in the direction the rock had come from while Fuery stood behind him, mute.

"It was just a rock, sir. We did not see the person responsible." Roy reported, flipping the rock over. His eyes widened when he saw what was written on the other side. "Lieutenant General, Hawkeye, I think you should take a look at this." He passed the rock to the lieutenant, who was standing between the Lieutenant General and him.

A moment passed. They stared down at the messy scrawl.

MAYARIS- FORSAKE THE MARKED MURDERESS AND RETURN TO YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR GOD

"Marked… that means targeted, right?" Havoc asked, looking over the Lieutenant's shoulder to read the writing. He had walked around the group to read the writing too.

Roy looked down at Riza. "Or could they know…" He left the thought hanging, but the concerned look he received from the blonde told him that the same thought had occurred to her. She reached up and rubbed the nape of her neck almost reflexively. Grumman looked up at the younger soldiers questioningly.

"What are you talking about, Mustang?" He asked sharply, clearly put back on edge by this breach in the defenses around his home.

"Yeah, boss, what's up? More secrets?" Havoc asked, easing the rock out of Hawkeye's hand and handing it to Fuery to look at.

Roy just looked at the young woman next to him. She still held one hand at the back of her neck. "You haven't told your grandfather?" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. He winced a little, feeling the burn mark from years before through the light fabric of Riza's dark blue robe.

The room was silent for a moment except for the sounds of the soldiers' breathing and the steady drip of water from Riza's hair. Finally, Riza shook her head. She allowed Roy to lead her over to the couch they had used the night before. The others followed. This behavior was so atypical of Hawkeye that they were all concerned. "There was never any need to tell him. I didn't think it would be a problem. We don't even know that that's what the note meant now." She explained, regaining some of her usual pragmatism.

"Elizabeth. What are you talking about? What was there no need to tell me about?" Grumman looked at his granddaughter severely. He was a more than a little peeved at all the secrecy.

His granddaughter tried to meet his gaze with her usual passive gaze, but faltered after a moment. Instead of answering she remained quiet, her hand floating up to massage her neck for a moment before she forced herself to remove it.

As Grumman opened his mouth to insist again, Havoc blurted out from behind her. "Lieutenant! Are you alright?" He stared down at the base of the lieutenant's neck, where she'd inadvertently pushed her hair to one side. Through the darkened strands of hair, he could see bright red marks coming from under her collar. Hawkeye winced. She knew what he'd seen and knew that the decision about whether to tell about the other meaning of "marked" or not had just been taken completely out of he hands.


	11. Revealing the Past

Sorry, this is short. It's also full of dialogue, which I'm not particularly good at writing. I promise that the next few chapters will be longer and better.

SPOILERS: I basically outline the flashback late in the manga about Roy and Riza's past. So there are a LOT of spoilers.

* * *

"Sit down, Havoc. She's fine." Roy ordered. He turned to the woman in question. "Come on, Riza. I can help you explain." Pushing her hair back and pulling the collar of her robe up a little higher, Hawkeye nodded and looked up determinedly. She only hoped that the lingering bits of sadness she felt were safely hidden by her outward appearance.

"Mr. Grumman, you know this already, but my men don't. Riza's father was my alchemy teacher." Roy started. This alone caused Fuery to gasp and Havoc to stare. "She was off at school most of the time, but I knew her a little back then. Sensei saw the corruption and didn't want to make himself a dog of the military, despite his great skill, so he took on an apprentice. Me." Roy looked to his sensei's daughter to see if she was ready to take over. She nodded.

"My father was very dedicated to his research. He was developing a kind of alchemy that he believed would be the most powerful known. It also proved to be the most destructive." She explained. She left out how afraid she had been of him in those last days and how little time he'd had for her. There was no sense in complaining. "He was displeased when Roy joined the military. But he was also very ill. He'd been wasting away for a long time. Just after he joined, Roy came back to our home one last time. I was on vacation from school, so I was home at the time too. Roy can explain what better than I can." Roy picked up the story, glancing over to make sure that his lieutenant was ok.

"I went to go speak to sensei in his study. We spoke for a while and he eventually said that he was sorry that he hadn't had time to teach me his alchemy. Then he began coughing blood. He died shortly after that, after telling me that he had left his secrets with his daughter." He cast a sidelong look at Riza and caught her eye. She understood what he was trying to say. _That's when your father told me to take care of you. _He continued without missing a beat. "Riza came in at that point and her father died. I stayed in town to help her by making the funeral arrangements."

"After the funeral, Roy told me that he wanted to help people using his alchemy and that he would be willing to die doing it. I agreed to show him my father's notes on his alchemy." Riza took over. She paused for a fraction of a second before continuing. "My father knew what a problem it could be if the wrong people found his research, so he didn't write it down, even in code. Instead he decided that it would be safest to tattoo it in code on my back. That's what you saw, Havoc." She knew that she had rushed the last part, but her nerves were a little beyond even her iron control.

If Havoc and Fuery had been surprised at hearing that Grumman was Riza's grandfather, they were dumbfounded at this news. Grumman's expression darkened. He looked like he would have liked to be the cause of his son in law's death. Noticing this, Roy suddenly understood why Riza had said that Grumman and Major General Armstrong were birds of a feather. Just another reason not to fail her. Having her grandfather angry with him would not be a pleasant experience.

Fuery was the first to speak. "That's terrible! Do you think that might have something to do with why you're being targeted ma'am? Might they want your father's secrets?" Havoc just stared next to him.

"It's possible, but if they wanted the tattoo, they would be disappointed." Riza answered. She carefully avoided looking at Roy as Fuery pondered her statement.

"Why would they be disappointed, Elizabeth?" This time it was her grandfather that spoke. His usual humor had once again fled.

Riza looked over at him, still careful to avoid her superior's gaze. Before she could speak though, he answered for her. "Riza asked me to destroy it when she saw how destructive the alchemy could be." The word Ishbal hovered unspoken over the group like a cloud. "I burned her shoulder and destroyed a key part of the coded notes. There is no way to understand what is left without it."

Grumman regarded the younger man carefully. It was clear that he was still upset about having had to burn Elizabeth. Somewhere at the back of his mind, a triumphant voice crowed that he now had more evidence as to the man's feelings for his subordinate. But now wasn't the time to think about things like that. Now was the time to figure out _why_ these murderers were trying to kill his granddaughter. And to do so quickly.

Havoc frowned. He was having trouble figuring something out… "Wait, chief. How did you explain the burn? If it was enough to destroy part of that tattoo, it would have needed some medical attention, right?" Roy winced. He _really_ didn't want to belabor this topic.

"I brought her to a doctor in Ishbal. I met him while he was working on some experiments they involved me in." Havoc's frown deepened. The words 'doctor' and 'experiment' did not belong together, especially if the higher ups had involved Roy. He'd heard rumors, and he really didn't want to think they were true. "His opinions of the war were similar to those Hughes, Riza, and I shared. I think deep down he was glad to have a breathing patient once during the war. Riza told everyone she'd been minorly injured coming from Ishbal. Doctor Knox is a coroner in Central now. We haven't spoken since." At one point, he had wondered whether he could trust the man. But from the information Hughes had gleaned in Central, Knox's life was falling apart so fast, the old man probably didn't have time to remember the young girl with the strange tattoo and the man that had burnt her.

Riza cast about for a way to change the course of the discussion. She could tell that she wasn't the only one that was strained by the current topic. "It's only a remote possibility that these people know about the notes. They could simply be after snipers in general. We won't know until we have more information. But if we can get that information without anyone else finding out about the notes, we should." It would be problematic if the notes were to become more widely known.

Grumman, sensing that neither his granddaughter nor her superior was anxious to continue the conversation, decided to put his foot down. "Elizabeth is right. We can't know any more now. All we can do is ensure that these two remain safe. I don't think we should tell anyone about this rock. It will only raise the wrong questions, particularly about Mayaris. No one outside of my immediate command and Mustang's knows where she's from. That said, I cannot cancel the party tomorrow night without a good reason. Instead, we're going to have to increase security." He crossed to his desk and pulled five cream colored invitations from a drawer. He handed them to Havoc, who looked at them, surprised. "Give these to each of your coworkers. The fifth is for Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and his wife. They were ordered to remain because there have been no attacks in Central and Hughes can help here. Formal dress, concealed weapons only, understood?"

Havoc and Fuery nodded silently. The orders were clear enough: Be there. Be armed. Be ready.

"Good. I will see you men tomorrow evening. There will be no need for you to bring paperwork in the morning." The men stood, saluted, and headed to the doors. Their superiors followed them out once they too had bid the Lieutenant General goodnight. A few minutes later, Havoc and Fuery were heading down the front steps. This time there was no betting.

Once their men were gone, the pair left started up the stairs. Within a few minutes of their arrival upstairs, they were saying goodnight at Riza's door to the bathroom.

"Are you going to be ok?" Roy asked. Truth be told, Riza still looked a little shaky. It was probably pointless to ask, but he could try.

She didn't meet his eyes, just responded with a simple "Yes, thank you." Roy was unimpressed.

It didn't sound like she'd even been able to convince herself that she would be ok. Before the last few days, he would have let her off with that. But no longer. "Riza." he insisted. His tone quite plainly told her to look up at him. She did so reluctantly. "You don't sound sure about that."

Riza sighed a little before responding. She should have known that he wouldn't let her lie to him now. "I'm a little upset now, but I'll be fine tomorrow. Really."

This made him a little happier. "I believe you. Just knock if you need to talk, got it? That's an order, Lieutenant." He figured she would be more likely to listen if he made it an order. He was probably right.

She nodded and smiled a little. Roy knew it didn't mean that she was happy; she wasn't. But it meant that she was grateful for his concern and that she would make it through what was happening. It was reassuring. "Goodnight, Roy." Smile still in place, she closed the door gently.

The man on the other side of the door barely had time to answer before the door was completely shut in front of him. Turning away from the door, Roy found himself fervently hoping that she understood that he wanted to be there if she needed help.

Riza, he mused as he returned to his own rooms, had learned to be very independent after her mother had died. She was still reluctant to ask for help when she needed it, even though she now had people to whom she could turn. He almost laughed when he realized that in her independence, she was very like his youngest subordinate. At least Riza didn't have a height complex.

---Somewhere Underground---

Somewhere not far away, a heavily muscled and even more heavily scarred individual spoke carefully into a phone. Careful wasn't usually this man's style, but considering who he was dealing with, it was probably for the best.

The harsh, deep voice on the other end of the line was responding to what he'd told him about the Ishbalan fool's rogue attack. "We will simply have to move the agenda up. Grumman will pressure his men to find you even faster now. Mustang and Hawkeye know too much. Let Grumman live if possible, but he would be no great loss." The mercenary nodded, even though he knew the man could not see him.

"Yes, sir. Mustang and Hawkeye are the primary targets. Grumman is dispensable. Understood." He repeated the orders concisely and waited for the order on when to move. They wouldn't know what hit them.


	12. Another Early Morning

The next morning, Roy and Riza awoke in their respective rooms to a terribly familiar sound.

Gunfire.

Gloves and guns were snatched from bedside tables and the pair ran from their rooms, literally colliding in the bathroom. They seemed to be doing a lot of this meeting in the middle recently. Roy quickly leaned down to help his younger subordinate to her feet as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

"Do you know where they are?" He asked urgently as she regained her balance. A quick negative later, they heard the door to Riza's room open quietly, casting light across the floor.

Both tensed visibly. Riza leveled her gun and saw a gloved hand come up next to her. A slightly hoarse voice came from the next room. "Riza? Honey, are you in here?" The young woman glanced up at her superior, who nodded in the strange half-light.

She relaxed her guard slightly and called out. "Mayaris? We're in the bathroom." The Ishbalan woman gratefully stumbled into the bathroom, unfazed by the gloved hands still pointed at her and the gun when she turned on the light.

"I came up here alone. They were still outside fighting the night guard when I came up." She assured them. The gun and hand relaxed further from pointing at the door behind her as the pair let their eyes adjust again. "They were at the south side of the house." Crashing noises burst from downstairs and Riza hurried back into her room to ease her door open. She saw the day guard in various states of undress rushing from the cellar, each carrying at least one gun.

Roy looked over her shoulder and opened the door. "Cassidy!" He stepped into the hall to yell to the C.O., who stopped and looked up, Lyn halting right behind him. "Drive 'em around the east side and I'll try to take them out from the window!" The other veteran nodded and turned to the young woman behind him. They set off at a trot as Roy closed the door.

Riza shot him a cautionary glance. "Do you think that's wise, sir?" She followed him into her bedroom, where they took up positions by her window.

He adjusted his gloves carefully, eyes trained on the southeast corner of the building. "Just be happy I didn't insist on going out there with them, Riza. I know you and your grandfather would have had heart failure."

The blonde rolled her eyes in an unusual display of exasperation that he couldn't see. "You wouldn't have gotten that far. I would have stopped you." A soft clatter came from her front room, which they both decided was Mayaris.

"Roy smirked at the thought. "I don't doubt it." They heard stifled laughter from the doorway and turned to see Mayaris silhouetted in the doorway by the light from the hall and bathroom, carrying two rifles from the case in the outer room.

Roy looked on as she passed one to Riza. "Your grandfather went into the office at around two this morning. He couldn't sleep after what you told him. He woke me up to tell me what happened and that he was leaving. I called him before I came up. Apparently there's another fight going on elsewhere, so we're on our own." She noticed Roy looking skeptically at the gun in her hands. "There was a time when many Ishbalan women learned to use one of these." She said gently. He instantly understood what time she meant and quickly turned to look out the window.

Riza looked sadly between the two for a moment before she heard the noise of the battle coming around the corner. She reached up and carefully opened the window, instantly allowing more of the noise to seep into the room.

As the two groups approached, Roy held his hand out into the night and snapped. Loud shouts emanated from both sides as an old, beaten tree, just about the only type in an environment like this, burst into flame.

In the dancing light from the tree, it became clear that the group closer to them was the attackers. Riza and Mayaris each fired once into the group before Roy snapped again. A figure in the opposite group saluted the window before gesturing his men toward the now beaten attackers. Roy reached up and closed the window.

As Riza stared down on the scene outside, she heard the swift, quiet fall of footsteps on stairs. Mayaris heard it too, and turned quickly to the doors. As a shadow fell across the floor, she whispered one word before dropping her gun. "Priests."

Turning quickly at the word, Roy saw the two figures in Riza's front room. The warrior priests had presented the greatest resistance to the massacre. He saw the Ishbalan woman beside Riza shaking violently. Even though she'd been living with Amestrisian military officers for years and cared about one of the people these men were after, it was clear that she could not shake her heritage enough to kill a priest of her religion.

Roy made a quick decision and stood, banking on the fact that the priests would still be using knives as they had before. He could hear a small, surprised noise coming from Riza next to him. "Stop there and we won't kill you." He warned, his gloved hands hanging ready at his sides.

One of the priests paused. "You will not kill us? Pray now alchemist, you are the one about to die." He suddenly rushed at the door to the bedroom. The priest's speed bore him through the door before he was met with flames and a single bullet.

He fell to the ground as the second priest rushed in. The pair trying to fight him off could not react fast enough and he made it to Roy, who caught the arm wielding the long knife a moment before it reached his throat. The response was instantaneous.

Mayaris cried out, suddenly confronted with the truth of her uncertainty. One of them would die. Riza discarded her rifle to draw a handgun as she yelled too. "Roy!" She tried to aim from where she crouched, but the struggle was too wild for her to get a clear shot.

When she stood, the priest swung his free hand out to strike. The blow sent the young woman sprawling across the bed behind her easily. It also gave Roy the split second he needed to gain control of the knife and turn it on the original wielder. The final seconds of the battle where enough to distract the occupants of the room from the renewed gunfire outside.

When the second attacker in the room was dispatched, Mayaris and Roy went to check on the fallen sniper. When it became clear that she was still breathing, but unconscious, Mayaris gritted her teeth and walked past the two bodies to make sure that there were no more attackers in the house. By some unspoken agreement, she'd agreed with the officer in the room that she would be better off out of the room and that he should watch over his aide.

---

Riza woke up at about seven in the morning, a good four hours after she'd been attacked. Her shoulder still hurt, and for a moment all she wanted was to go to sleep. But then consciousness began dissipating any hope of that as the conversation going on in the next room began to filter into her mind. There were three distinct voices, which she quickly identified as her grandfather's, Roy's, and Hughes'.

Through the hum of conversation, she opened her eyes a little. It took a moment for her sleepy brain to process the fact that her room was not red. But this room was. As her memory of earlier that morning came back, she was able to reason why she wasn't in her room any more. Investigations must be in there gathering evidence, so she'd been moved to be out of their way.

"Lieutenant Colonel, is there anyway you can just write up a report for her based on what Mustang's said? Or have her confirm it? It's been over four hours since she was knocked out. Somehow I doubt she'll be happy about giving a statement after this." That was her grandfather, she was sure of it.

Hughes answered quickly and seriously, a far cry from his normal obsessive tone that he used to talk about his daughter. "I can have her confirm it. I'm a bit afraid of how irritable she'll be when she wakes up, so I can certainly do that if she wants."

Riza smiled a little up at the ceiling when she heard his comment before gently propping herself up on one elbow to look at the group through the open door. Roy caught sight of her first, having taken the seat facing the door, but she spoke up before he could do more than stand. "That is what she wants, Hughes." She agreed, her voice rasping a little as she laughed quietly at his shocked expression.

Roy hurried into the room with a glass of water from the table, the others following more sedately after him. Riza smiled, but shook her head. "With all due respect, I'm not going to sit here while you three stand over me. I'm coming out there." Before they could protest, she was on her feet. Roy quickly shoved the glass at his best friend and took his subordinate's arm when she reached out to steady herself on the bedside table.

As the two officers walked out into the front room, the Lieutenant Colonel and the Lieutenant General smiled after them and then at each other.

When Riza was situated in Roy's former seat and another one had been drawn up for him, Hughes handed her the statement he'd already gotten from Roy and a pen to sign it. Mayaris' presence had been carefully cropped out of the account, but otherwise it was as true as she could think to make it. The blonde handed the paper back to Hughes with a second signature neatly below the first.

"The priests that attacked you were young. Someone must be training new priests, because they can't have been taught everything they seem to have known before the war." Grumman stated, clearly worried. "They had another group outside too. They shot Ceras in the lower leg, but Rawlant says he'll be fine. He also said that the one that attacked you misjudged your height. He was probably aiming for your neck." Riza winced a little at the thought. She wouldn't be having this conversation if he'd judged correctly.

Hughes nodded. "Yeah, we're lucky. We're hoping they won't try anything else today, the Fuhrer has already called to hope that the party will continue, which of course pressures your grandfather to go through with the plans. We'll all be here to back his guards up, but it's not looking like the Fuhrer is inclined to allow more security measures."

The lieutenant general opposite Riza muttered darkly at this. She presumed that he was more than a little miffed that the Fuhrer was throwing his power around to further such a ridiculous end. "Investigations is cleaning up now that they've finished with the scene outside and in your room, so you'll have somewhere to change and we won't have any traces of the battle on the grounds." He assured his granddaughter when he saw her look his way. "If you're sure you feel better now Elizabeth, I'm going to go draw up a plan for how to protect the party this evening with the people we have. Gentlemen, would one of you kindly let me know when the last of the men from Investigations is gone? Mayaris will need to start organizing immediately."

The younger officers kept their seats when he gestured, and watched the lieutenant general leave. "He was avoiding talking about the other attack. Where was it?" Riza turned back to the other two just in time to see them exchange an anxious look. Her eyes narrowed, and Hughes hurried to answer her.

"It was at the hospital. But they didn't even go down Lt. Blunt's corridor at first. They attacked the patient and doctor in the first room they came to, 127. The patient swears it didn't seem like they were even trying to kill her, but the doctor is dead. We're running a background check on him now. It's suspected that he worked with the experiments in Ishbal."

Riza looked worriedly on. "Carol's on room 172, sir. And are you certain the doctor was stationed at the hospital?" Roy caught on at that point. If it was Doctor Knox, they might now know how the Ishbalans could have found out about the tattoo.

Seeing his friend's reaction to the question, Hughes put two and two together. "It wasn't that coroner, Knox. He was still in Central last I checked. And the idea that they switched the numbers occurred to me too. It is certainly possible that they were after her. A pair ran from 127 toward her room, but your grandfather's guard stopped them. Why did you think of Knox so quickly? Has something else happened?"

Roy looked at Riza, who nodded. The rock couldn't be released to the rest of Investigations, but they couldn't keep Hughes in the dark. With a deep breath, the colonel began explaining the events of the night before to his friend. Somehow, it seemed like it had happened much longer ago.

---Underground---

The soldier leaned against the wall easily. The gun next to him was loaded, and it was all he could do to keep from firing at the doors across from him and then the ones flanking him. Soon. Soon, he'd be able to shoot the worthless people he'd been putting up with for the last week.

But if he did anything stupid, the bosses would be mad. A little spooked at this thought, he thought he saw the shadow next to the door across from him move. Nah. They had better things to do than spy on him. The only thing in there was the guy he'd replaced, and he certainly wasn't moving around.

The soldier glanced up as a pair of people walked into the hall. Shooting them his best 'I'm-your-comrade-don't-suspect-me' look, he called down the hall. "Hey boss, Wolfe!" The other two waved before disappearing into the shooting gallery. As the sound of their practice filled the air, the soldier closed his eyes and smiled.

Soon.

* * *

Hey, sorry this took so long, my computer deleted the first draft and my exams start tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm looking forward to the next few! Any theories about this last bit?


	13. Preparations

That evening, about two hours before the party was to start, the entire house was dead quiet. Unless you counted the clamoring caterers fleeing Mayaris' scrutiny, Mustang's men being led on a tour of the house by Cassidy, a loudly barking Black Hayate in the cellar, and a cursing colonel in his room. Absolutely silent if you ignored them.

Riza was still getting ready in her room when she heard her next door neighbor, as it were, cursing. She listened with mild amusement as she checked the gun strapped to her leg, stepped into her dress, and drew it on. The off-white dress ended just past her ankles, deep red embroidery defining the wide neckline and brushing her bare feet at the hem. An impromptu slit in each side of the skirt was hidden in the folds of the fabric and carefully closed with snaps sewn on that morning. The sniper slid her shoes on and picked up her earrings before walking into the bathroom.

She had just begun to brush her hair when she heard a soft thud from the next room. Judging by the resounding "Ouch!" and the renewed stream of curses, Roy had kicked something in frustration. Something told Riza that it was a good thing her grandfather had asked them to start getting ready two hours before the party to be ready to help greet guests when they arrived.

With a final quiet laugh, his date finally decided to take pity on him and knocked on the door to his room. "Roy? Do you need help with something?" A quick cessation of the cursing told her that he'd heard her question.

"No, thanks though, Riza. Just worry about yourself." Shaking her head, the blonde returned to the counter to finish brushing her hair and putting on her jewelry. She studiously ignored the slightly quieter flow of expletives from the adjoining room until she was completely ready.

The muttering had still not quite stopped five minutes after her first question, but Riza knocked again anyway. "Roy, are you sure you don't need help?"

A very defeated sigh somehow made it back through the door to her. "Actually… that would be really good." Roy studiously avoided looking at the door as his date came in, slightly worried about what she'd find on the other side.

When Roy came into view, even the woman who'd been around him on and off for about eight years, had to fight back laughter. He was standing in the middle of his front room, his hair ruffled and a lone cufflink and decorative buttons strewn across his chess set. His defeated expression completed a rather funny picture. Riza ducked back into the bathroom to hide her smile and pick up a comb.

"I can't get these things on!" He muttered darkly, glaring at the small decorations. Why, _why_ did Hughes pack those? It wasn't as though his tuxedo would look incomplete without them. Well, actually, it would… but that was beside the point!

He finally tore his eyes away from the demonic accessories to look at his savior. She was fighting to hide the beginnings of a smile behind her hand. Great... He only had a second to be put out that she was laughing before she stopped and he finally processed that she was dressed for the party already.

"Wow. Riza, your grandfather has good taste. That looks wonderful on you." Riza shot him a wary look before deciding that he was being sincere and smiling back.

She walked over to pick up the cufflink Roy had not been able to get on and put the comb down. "Thank you. But I'm almost positive Mayaris made the actual decision. Hand." She ordered, holding out her own, rather smaller, hand. "I'm not surprised that you're having trouble with this. I don't imagine it's easy to put these on yourself."

Roy offered his hand and allowed her to begin putting the cufflink on. After a minute, she had the accessory safely in place and was turning to get a button. Roy was suddenly struck by the thought that this was in a way the beginning of their date. Embarrassing as that was, silence for the entire evening didn't sound like a good plan. _Think, Roy, think. You always have a line or something to say. Speak, you dumb dog of the military! _He berated himself silently.

After a quick count of the buttons, Riza knew where to start putting them on. She silently counted down the buttonholes and then took some away from the bottom. As she reached to begin putting the button on his shirt, Roy spoke up. "So… you said Mayaris was a friend of your grandmother's? How did she meet an Ishbalan woman?" She looked up from the button for a minute. He was obviously grasping at straws.

Finishing the button, Riza turned to get another one and answered. "Well, actually-" She paused. Did she really want to tell him? She glanced over her shoulder to see Roy looking expectantly at her. If she was going to tell someone, it would be him. "Mayaris is my great aunt. I'm a quarter Ishbalan."

The blonde turned away quickly on the pretense of having dropped the button. If truth be told, he was a little afraid of his reaction. "I'm not really surprised. Your hair would be odd, but your eyes really do look a little red in some lights. Do people ask about it often?"

A wave of relief broke over her at his words. It had taken him a slight moment to process the information, but he was taking it remarkably well. She'd been afraid that he'd react with the same wariness he'd shown with Mayaris. But perhaps he had already learned not to associate his aide solely with that unfortunate part of their lives.

Riza was putting the buttons on faster, getting used to how to adjust them so they would stay in place. "No one has pointed it out to me since Ishbal. It was just that once, you were there, remember?" Roy nodded, recalling the encounter.

--_Flashback—_

_Roy was walking back towards his tent after another long, day. Lacking company, he was brooding over the day's events, which had become so terribly commonplace in the weeks since he'd arrived on the front._

_The tents around him were empty. All of the soldiers here had night guard duty. But up ahead there was shouting. He picked up his pace when he saw a soldier pointing his rifle at someone just beyond the next tent. As he approached, the soldier's target became clear._

_It was a young woman, clearly just arriving back from her duty. Her rifle was wrapped up and slung across her back, covered like the rest of her with a sand slightly darker than the rest around them. Roy quickly surmised that she'd been staying somewhere that had been kept in the dark for a long time. So she was a sniper. It only took a few seconds, but it felt like much longer before all of the pieces fell into place._

_Female. Sniper. Short, blonde hair. _

_Sensei's daughter, Riza. _

_He stepped forward quickly. There was no reason for this soldier to be threatening one of his own. "Soldier! What are you doing?!" He barked, using the loud, commanding tone he'd developed shortly after he'd arrived. _

_The man swung unsteadily to look at him, still trying to keep one eye on his quarry. His words were slurred as he spoke. "Jus' caugh' a spy, sirrr. Sneky Ishbalans thin' they can dresss up an' come in 'ere. 'as red eyesss an' all." The man was obviously inebriated. Roy would have to try to convince him not to shoot the sniper standing before them. _

_He looked at the younger girl. "Look, soldier, she is one of ours!" He strode quickly over to the man's target and whispered reassuringly, or as reassuringly as he could in the situation. After all, there was no guarantee that the soldier wouldn't shoot them both where they stood, but he couldn't turn on the man unless he moved first. "Just stay still. I don't think he'll fire unless he's startled." He reached up and gently swept some of the dirt and sand from her face. The lighter skin showing through greatly reduced her resemblance to the Ishbalans. _

_He turned back, showing the man the clearly Amestrisian soldier. The aggressor didn't look convinced. Fortunately, a group of soldiers was hurrying toward them with the clear intention of stopping their drunken comrade. Someone must have gone to get help._

_The next few moments were a blur as the men came and took the man's weapon and Riza thanked the Major. After briefly consulting with the ranking officer present, Roy, the other soldiers agreed to take the aggressor in and request that he be sent home._

_When Roy finally had a moment to look for her, he found that the sniper was gone. The next day, Roy's men were sent to the same area that Riza was bound for, along with the Crimson alchemist and his men. They did not have a private moment to speak about the last evening's events. Later that day, the bomb-making alchemist turned on his men, effectively driving the close call of the night before from their minds._

_---End Flashback---_

"Yeah, I remember. That's when I finally got to pay you back for saving my neck that first time." He agreed. Actually, looking back, it was hard to believe that he hadn't figured out that Riza was part Ishbalan back then.

She glanced up at his face. "I'm glad we've stopped keeping track of that. You can't attach equivalent exchange to the number of times you've saved a person's life. There are too many variables." Another silence descended upon them with that thought.

Finally, Riza reached for the last button. Roy found himself once again desperate for something to say as his date reached up to attach the last button. "You know, this is kind of like how we were standing back then." Her gaze moved from the button to his face questioningly.

Roy made a quick decision and lifted his hand to touch Riza's face, echoing his movements of years before. But something happened then that had most certainly not happened years ago in Ishbal. They kissed.

Neither one could remember exactly how it had happened, but there they were. Later, neither would remember exactly how long the kiss had lasted either. Roy would insist that it had been a long kiss, his girlfriend would blushingly argue that it hadn't.

However long it was, when they stepped back, Riza began working to put the button on again. She carefully hid her slight blush by ducking her head until she lost her excuse. Roy noticed. "Wow, Riza, I never imagined you'd be the type to kiss before the first date was even over."

The look he received left him terrified that he'd said the wrong thing. Did she think he was taking it too lightly? Was she disappointed in herself? Surprised? His fears were assuaged when she tilted her head thoughtfully to answer.

"I'm not. But I think that the last eight years can count as our first date, don't you?" She smiled, handing him the comb from the table. Roy blinked. Well, that was certainly a unique way of looking at things… But then again, he thought as he lifted the comb to his mussed hair, his date was pretty unique too.

----

Bear with me here, this fic is supposed to take place sometime between when a year or two after the rebellion and Scar's appearance/Roy's transfer to Central. It's a rough estimate, because different timelines say different things. x.x

Just a note for my fellow picky readers: I checked the manga and this actually does make sense. In the Barry scenes, if you look closely enough, you can see that the slit in her skirt was closed up with snaps before she drew her gun. (I try really hard not to include anything that doesn't fit with what they have in the manga.)

SORRY! It's late and short, but I'm going to try to get you a really nice, long chapter with something fun for you to think about (haha, cliffhanger!) before I leave to go to Spain in a week or so. This chapter is really just fluff (not to be confused with just being filler, I think a little fluff from time to time is important too!).


	14. A Party to Remember

It only took Roy a few more minutes to get ready, but when he turned at the door to offer Riza his arm, he saw her standing in the middle of the room, smiling and shaking her head.

Seeing his concerned and slightly perplexed look, she stopped. "I just realized that we haven't told the others that we're going to this party together. They're all going to be there." Roy's eyes widened momentarily, but his expression quickly changed to one of mischief.

"Well then, let's get going. I can't wait to see their reactions." He laughed, opening the door.

It did not take them long to find the rest of the group lounging at the bottom of the stairs. Fuery, the only one facing them as they descended, was the first to notice them. "Colonel, Lieutenant! Good evening!" He piped, his grin stretching broader with each moment.

Havoc craned his neck to look behind him from his place sitting on the bottom of the stairs. He stood up almost immediately upon noticing that his commanding officers were clearly _together_. Breda turned around when he saw Havoc's reaction, mouth falling open for a moment. Falman just laughed to himself at his coworkers' reactions.

Riza fought to keep a grin off her face as she responded. "Good evening, Fuery. Is something wrong?" She could feel Roy's arm moving at her side as he struggled and failed to hold back his (almost) silent laughter.

"You… ma'am, and him… to- on a-" Spluttered Breda incoherently. He took a deep breath before trying again, ignoring the sound of cenz changing ands behind him. "This is a joke, right?"

It was Fuery that answered. "No, it's not!" He chirped, happily waving his money around before realizing just how tactless he was being and shoving the money into his pockets abashedly.

Roy took a short break from laughing to look over at his date. "The bet you were telling me about?" She nodded and led him away from the men over to where her grandfather was beaming and waving them over.

"You two look wonderful." He nodded approvingly, in a manner that Roy imagined would have seemed very austere and grandfatherly had he not been grinning like- oh no, they hadn't told Maes either… "The guests will be arriving soon. I received confirmation from Hughes that the Fuhrer will be attending with his standard minimal security, so our men are the only ones that we can expect to be armed. Oh, and I can't imagine Milla will be able to come unarmed. That reminds me, I have asked that this party be strictly no uniform, no title. It saves me the trouble of remembering some of the lower level men's positions." The host rambled on until he saw that two of his men were opening the doors for the people driving down the road to the house.

He quickly gestured to them to come over to the doors and they followed obediently. As the figures that emerged from the parked car walked sedately up to the stairs, Riza leaned closer to Roy and whispered a warning. "Brace yourself."

The light streaming out of the front doors silhouetted the three officers standing in the doorway and bounced off one of the guest's rectangular glasses. It was clear that it had gotten dark enough outside that the hosts were not clearly visible until the guests were at the bottom of the three steps up to the doors.

The exact distance became apparent quickly when Hughes' face seemed to change completely when he discerned whom the couple was standing with Grumman.

"Roy! You finally did it! Now all you have to do is propo-" Called the bespectacled friend as he bounded up the stairs, wife in tow.

Roy cut him off sharply. "Shut it, Maes." He countered, reaching for his gloves, which were carefully tucked into his pocket.

Hawkeye shot Hughes one threatening glance before turning to greet his wife. Grumman had a different approach. "I keep saying that too, but they won't listen to their elders." He agreed; ignoring his granddaughter's subtly exasperated sigh. Hughes shot a wary glance at his friends before nodding enthusiastically and practically dragging his wife across the room to avoid their irritation.

Not long after the Hughes' eventful arrival, the real chaos of hosting set in. It seemed that a steady stream of people was now coming through the door. Roy was finding it a little difficult to follow the list of people coming in. As time went on, all he had time to do was catch a fleeting impression of whose hand he was shaking and dimly register the jovial comments about Grumman's inspiration for his bill.

Riza was faring a little better. She had helped her grandfather host smaller functions before and was able to deal with the constant changes. Brigadier General Grand came in with his wife, Lieutenant General Raven had come alone, Major General Hakuro had left his wife at home. Riza only took real note of the most important officers coming in. There were a surprising number of civilian couples and groups, mixed in with a significant number of lower level officers.

Major General Olivier Milla Armstrong and Major Miles, both defiantly in uniform, were among the last people to come in. "Milla! So nice to see you. You remember my granddaughter, Elizabeth, and Roy Mustang?" Grumman greeted her cheerily, eliciting a rare smile from the visitor, who turned to the other two while Grumman greeted Miles.

"Good evening." She nodded, a trace of a smile left as she greeted Riza. The early sparks of a rivalry seemed to flash as she shook Roy's hand. "I hope your men are up to their task."

Roy smiled at the light challenge. "About as ready as you two are." He shot back. The guest smirked back, putting one hand on her sword as she walked off, Miles trailing behind her after nodding to the other two officers.

The flow of people began to slow as it neared eight o'clock. It was a good thing too, because Roy was getting a little fidgety. That was, until the final guests of the evening arrived.

The Fuhrer, his wife, and his son, accompanied only by the Fuhrer's assistant, Storch, climbed the steps at eight o'clock. All fidgeting stopped as they neared and the people closest to the doors went silent. By the time the Fuhrer reached Lieutenant General Grumman, the entire front hall had gone almost silent.

"Grumman! It's good to see you again. You've met Marie, of course. And our son Selim." Grumman responded with the usual pleasantries as he fell into step with the newcomers before introducing the military couple beside him.

"I believe you've met my granddaughter, First Lieutenant Elizabeth Hawkeye?" He smiled ingratiatingly as the Fuhrer and his family greeted Riza and turned to Roy. "And her colonel, the Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang?" At this, Selim's eyes brightened and his mother gasped.

"Oh! You must be one of the couples your grandfather was telling me about, Elizabeth! How sweet! Oh, I remember when King and I were young… He was so rude at first, I actually hit him!" She laughed and the others joined her quickly.

Riza smiled politely back at the older woman. "I know the feeling, ma'am." Roy gaped at his lieutenant as the others had another nice laugh at his expense.

After a few more empty pleasantries had been exchanged, Grumman indicated to the younger couple that they could leave.

They wandered into one of the side rooms to get drinks before launching themselves back into the crowd.

The evening passed quickly as they wandered around the rooms. They found a number of older military men and their wives talking off to one side of the dancers and spent a while socializing with them. Forty five minutes later, Riza had to excuse them rather hastily when Roy failed to hide his astonishment at meeting Lieutenant General Falman.

"You mean you didn't know that Falman's father was part of the upper brass?" She asked as she led him quickly out onto the dance floor.

She had quickly found that it was the only place that they were reasonably safe from being dragged into any other conversations. Roy shook his head in response. "I had no idea. But they look almost exactly alike. Do you think he'd help us?"

They danced straight through the brief pause between songs as Riza considered the thought. "I think he was a supporter of the Fuhrer's decisions in Ishbal, but I'm not certain. In any case, it wouldn't be wise to be too hasty in approaching him."

Roy nodded grimly and they lapsed into a comfortable silence as they danced on, studiously ignoring Hughes' frantic attempts to take a picture of them without being jostled by other dancers, something he was failing miserably at.

Eventually, their photographer gave up his quest for the moment and brought his wife out onto the dance floor. The dancing couple had no idea that the other two sets of eyes that were watching them carefully were much more dangerous.

"This is an interesting development, isn't it?" A deep voice murmured in one corner of the room.

The voice's companion nodded, glancing up at the speaker. "That it is. If all else fails, there might be another use for Miss Hawkeye yet."

Their conversation was interrupted when Marie Bradley and General Grumman came back to the corner with drinks, but the observers had said what had been needed.

Across the room, the band was striking up another song. Roy and Riza began dancing with the other couples, talking quietly about everything except work and the events of the last few days. They had just begun talking about what breed of dog Roy should get when, for the third time that week, they heard glass breaking.

If the noise had been smaller, they might have assumed that someone had simply dropped their champagne glass and continued dancing. But the noise was loud and accompanied by shrieks of terror.

Glancing over each other's shoulders, Roy and Riza were able to see men climbing through the window frames over the shards of glass that had once been the windows themselves. Every one of them brandished at least one weapon, some of the paler ones held two or three. It only took a moment to identify them as the mercenaries working with the Ishbalans coming with them.

They stood, frozen for a moment; both scanning the side of the room they could see for enemies and armed allies as the attackers drove everyone into the front hall from the other rooms.

"Everyone sit down!" One of the men ordered sharply. Roy and Riza hastily obeyed, looking for the entire world like a terrified civilian couple. The only differences between them and the cowering couple next to them were the calculating expressions on their faces and weapons they had concealed. The men began prowling quietly through the captives, somehow still managing to maintain a tight perimeter. Riza was busy silently communicating to their armed allies to stand down and make sure to conceal their weapons when Roy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and whispered into her ear.

"Who do you see?" He murmured, watching for anyone approaching as he tried to maintain the pretense of a man comforting his girlfriend.

"Havoc, Falman, Hughes, Cassidy, Lyn, and Cohler. I don't see Andars or the night guard." She whispered back, going along by clinging to him. She continued into his shoulder as she kept watch over his shoulder. "They look like they're planning to move us all downstairs, they've opened the door and the guy giving orders is conversing with one of the mercenaries. What do you want us to do, Colonel?"

"Your grandfather is behind you with the Fuhrer and his family. It looks like he just told Armstrong and Miles to sneak out for reinforcements. They were near a window and got the man as he came through, so it was unguarded." Roy responded. "I see Andars, Fuery, most of the night guard, and Breda. Let the rest of our party know to just keep their heads down. We'll see what they plan to do."

Riza began rapidly sending the message around her side of the room. She had just finished relaying it to the last person when she felt Roy's grip on her shoulder tighten. She could hear the footsteps of the approaching man now on the marble floor. As he approached, the man giving orders shouted again.

"Everyone is to stand up and begin walking to this door. Follow orders and you will not be harmed. We have sent our demands to the military and will only execute one person every hour until they meet our terms. If they refuse, you will all die." At this, frightened whispers began mounting and the captives rose. Roy pulled Riza to her feet and they joined the throng headed for the narrow staircase to the cellar.

They could see the Fuhrer, his wife, Selim, and Grumman being shunted by a few of the captors to the door in front of them. When Riza looked around, she saw that Mayaris had been pulled to the center of the room, where two of the Ishbalan men were berating her. The tinted glasses she wore had clearly not deceived them. Riza silently wished her old friend luck, not truly worried about her, they'd never hurt an old Ishbalan woman, but still sorry for Mayaris. Riza turned her attention back to the crowd before her as she reached the stairs.

As they passed by their captors, Roy and Riza turned their heads away, trying to hide their identities and collect as much information as they could at the same time. Both saw that every one of the Ishbalans they passed sported the tattoo Grumman had shown them and Mayaris had identified as an old symbol for their god. It only served to confirm the collective identity of these attackers.

After a few more minutes of being herded, Roy and Riza were being shoved past the shooting range in the cellar. Both noted the presence of a guard next to the gun racks in the room; somehow, the attackers had known that it was there. They continued down the hall, and were eventually pushed into a room neither had been in before.

The room was large, with a high ceiling that was clearly right below the floor above it. The columns supporting the ceiling had all been disguised as trees complete with thick, leafy boughs. Riza could see that more "trees" had been added to distort the uniform pattern of the columns and what seemed to be a small, deep pond had been added in the room. The room was obviously part of the addition Grumman had been so proud of; specially designed to simulate the surroundings for a forest battle.

"Roy, over by the pond." Riza nodded slightly at Lyn and Cassidy, who had already found Grumman and the Fuhrer. They hurried over to the group. Grumman turned when they approached, grim determination etched into every line of his face.

"Good, they haven't found you two yet. I'm sure they're after their demands too, but I'd imagine the plan is to disguise your deaths as the first two executions. Quite possibly the Fuhrer too." Mrs. Bradley cried out quietly at this, covering her son's ears. "Don't worry ma'am. We won't let them hurt your husband. Or Colonel Mustang, or my granddaughter either." He assured her, face softening ever so slightly.

"My wife and son need to hide somewhere while we sort this out, Lieutenant General." The Fuhrer insisted. Roy noted that his concern seemed almost forced as he took his wife's hand. That was when he noticed Hughes coming towards them, Gracia clinging to his arm.

"Excuse me sir, but I have an idea." Mustang offered, gesturing for Maes to hurry over. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes can help your family find a hiding place with Gracia. That way they'll both be protected."

"Make it so, Hughes." The Fuhrer ordered, holding his wife's glance for the briefest of moments before turning back to the group as Hughes led the two women and the young boy deeper into the indoor forest. "Does anyone know how many armed men we have here? It seems I'll have to start bringing more security with me."

"Sir, Lieutenant Hawkeye and I counted seventeen. There are four of my own subordinates, Hughes, the Lieutenant General has a gun, eight of the Lieutenant General's men in the building, ourselves, and yourself, sir." Mustang reported, watching out of the corner of his eye for Hawkeye's nod in confirmation. He noted that his men had all grouped around, and Grumman's remaining few were coming closer. When he saw the nod he been waiting for, he continued. "That's all we know of, sir."

"Very well, do you know how many weapons that amounts to, Colonel? You seem to have all the answers." The Fuhrer responded with a trace of his normal good humor as Hughes and the last of Grumman's men joined the group.

As Roy opened his mouth, there was a loud sound from the door. The last of the partygoers had been shepherded into the room, and the door had just been shut. It was safe to assume that it was now being barricaded, locked, or guarded. Or any combination thereof. Roy continued as they all looked away from the door.

"Cassidy, each of your team has a firearm, right?" He asked, receiving an affirmative nod. "And you have a sword, sir. Hughes?" Roy looked over at his friend, who, having returned, flicked his wrist to reveal a throwing knife.

"I have six knives with me. And a gun." He reported, slipping the blade back into his sleeve.

"Havoc and Falman each have a gun, correct? Fuery, Breda, the same?" He received four confirmations before continuing on again. "I have my gloves, and Hawkeye has two handguns with her."

"Three." She spoke up at long last, quietly correcting him. Roy shot her an incredulous look before revising his tally.

"So that means we have seventeen guns, six throwing knives, my gloves, and a sword." Mustang summarized the extent of their small arsenal. "I can have a few of my men go ask around quietly to see if anyone else had the presence of mind to come armed, sir." The Fuhrer nodded his approval before he began speaking once again. Roy pointed to Furey and Breda to send them off in search of other weapons.

"If the Lieutenant General is correct, they will doubtless send someone in to bring out one of their targets when the first hour is up. We're going to lay a number of traps for those that come in. If we can pull all of our people far enough back into the room and pick off any enemies quietly, we can reduce their numbers. We'll station lookouts in the trees around the door and a few guns to be a first line of defense in case they decide to send too many men in at once." The Fuhrer outlined his plan. Grumman was the only one that spoke up.

"I would suggest that we have a team ready to get out into the main house if there are few enough men outside the door when they open it. If the team is small enough, they can pick off more men in the main house, perhaps even come back and let us out if someone locks us back in." He suggested, gaze flickering over to where Roy and Riza stood.

"That sounds like it may work. Lieutenant General, Colonel, you can organize your men into groups. Let me know if there are any changes in plan. I'm going to try to inspire more of our men to fight." The Fuhrer stalked off, watching them closely.

"Very well." Grumman turned to take command. "Wolfe, I want you in the trees near the door. Cassidy, you go too. Make sure you're close enough to be effective with your handguns. Colonel, if you don't mind I want to have two of your men act as lookouts." Grumman barely waited for Roy's nod before continuing, "Cohler, Andars, you two each take one of Mustang's men and show them around the room. Send people to the back of the room as you go. You four can man the traps. Night guard, be ready to go out the door after the first group if possible. Hughes, I want you to come with me to help pull all of our people as far as we can from the door so they don't stampede when they hear gunfire and the traps have time to work. The Fuhrer can help with that. Everyone got their assignments?" There was a chorus of quick affirmatives before the men spread out to cover their posts. Hughes, Roy, Riza, and Grumman were left standing together when Furey and Breda came jogging up.

"Colonel, no other officers say they came armed. They all presumed that they wouldn't dare attack such a big party." Breda reported, not a trace of humor left in his eyes. Fuery shook his head vehemently behind him. Riza quickly gave them their assignments and sent them off to their posts before turning back to her grandfather.

"I suppose this means you want Roy and me be the first team to leaves if it has a chance." She surmised, looking at her grandfather expectantly.

"Yes. If all else fails, you'll be out of here and able to go for reinforcements. You will be able to fight together and be more effective than any other pair, too." They heard shouting coming from outside the heavy door as guests began passing them to go to the far reaches of the room. "Good luck." With that shared sentiment, Grumman and Hughes turned worried backs to begin their own work.

Roy and Riza jogged back over to the door and took up positions nearby so they would be able to go through if possible. Lyn and James waved from their perches in the trees nearby as they all listened to the shouting die away.

Riza quickly began undoing the snaps on her skirt and drew one of her guns, eliciting a comment from Roy. "Three?" He asked incredulously. Riza just smiled back and put a finger to her lips. Roy fought to keep from shaking his head as they settled in to wait for the door to open.

-----

Duh duh duh… Sorry, lots of cameos here, so it wasn't easy to write. It's not a terrible cliffhanger, but I'm going away for two weeks, so I didn't feel that I could leave you in too much pain. And I apologize for their rather lengthy planning meeting, but it was necessary for the next few chapters.

Does anyone know Bradley's wife's first name?

When Roy finds out that all of the upper brass is "black", there's one officer with the others that looks a lot like Falman, so I wrote him in. (I put the picture on my website)


	15. Counterattack

Lyn cursed quietly as she heard the shouting outside the door growing louder. She'd had an half an hour to get into the idiotic tree, but some random General had decided to come over and begin giving her utterly superfluous tips on being a sniper. The old man had wheezed on for twenty minutes before she'd finally gotten rid of him. And now she had to climb that tree…

Ball gowns and heels were not exactly conducive to climbing trees and their captors were getting closer. She could see Hawkeye glancing anxiously over at her and hear Cassidy in one of the nearby trees. "Lyn! Come over here!" he hissed as the men outside started banging around the door. The young sniper tore off her heels and ran over to her commanding officer's tree. Only when James had pulled her up was Hawkeye able to breathe relatively easily. She turned her attention back to the door just as it opened and the first enemy came through.

From their hiding place near the door, Mustang and Hawkeye watched as their allies in the trees dealt with the first two men to come through the door. Cassidy pushed a fake branch out of the way so they could see him and nodded grimly.

Roy and Riza advanced to the door and listened carefully to the sound of a single person running down the hallway. When they were sure that it was only one person, Riza looked quickly around the doorframe, aimed, and fired. They waited for any of the man's comrades, but when none appeared, they left the room.

As they passed the mercenary, they recognized him as the man that had been guarding the guns in the shooting gallery. A split second after they established his identity, Riza started to go to tell the others, but no sooner had she turned to relay the news than they heard the door to the stairs crash open and a large group of people tearing down towards them. Roy wrenched the door to the nearest room open and they ducked inside, closing the door until there was only space enough to slip in and out of the room.

From her position crouched just behind the door, Riza could see the rush of legs as a large group of the attackers rushed past the dead mercenary to close the door to the makeshift prison. The first five or six went in upon seeing the other two of their number dead in the doorway, leaving three outside to block the door behind them and open it when they had accomplished their goal.

The Amestrisian soldiers on both sides of the door waited with bated breath. About five minutes after the second group of men had gone in, just as the guards were getting anxious, a man began shouting about finding one of the mercenaries dead in the room. The guards began opening the door as fast as they could as the man's voice was cut off mid-shout.

Roy raised a gloved hand to snap at the guards, but stopped when he heard the quiet admonishment from the sniper. "Colonel, your flame's too distinctive. Anyone can shoot, I'll take these three. We'll keep them guessing as long as we can." He barely had time to acknowledge the wisdom to her statement before Riza was out in the hall again, the three guards having joined the others on the floor.

"Now, can I use alchemy, Lieutenant?" Roy asked mockingly as Riza studied the complicated mess of boards and iron bars the guards had been using to reinforce the heavy wooden door. It would clearly take too long to try to remove it any other way.

She stepped away from the door and placed herself carefully between Roy and the doorway from the stairs. "Hurry." The Flame Alchemist needed no further urging, and in moments the heavy wood was a pile of ashes and embers. The iron bars however, had twisted, but were still wedged tightly in the doorframe. They had clearly been included to stop just such an assault.

Roy was concentrating another attack on the metal when Riza heard shattering glass, shouting, and the unmistakable sound of still more men hurrying down the stairs. "Colonel, they're coming." She warned, waving him forward to another room closer to the stairs. The night guard hurried up to the barrier to try to work it loose as the two officers hid just inside the shooting gallery.

The second wave of men swept right by them and didn't look back as they paused to survey the scene at the end of the hall. The two escapees took the few moments the newcomers spent figuring out what had happened to slip out of the main hallway and start up the stairs. The shouting they had heard earlier grew louder as they reached the door at the top of the stairs.

Roy paused to listen at the door, and in the brief interim, both officers recognized two of the shouting voices. What was Roy's youngest charge doing up there with his brother? They shouldn't be nearby… With one brief, perplexed look back to his equally confused aide, Roy opened the door.

Quickly taking stock of the situation, Roy and Riza moved away from the cellar. They maintained the element of surprise for a few minutes, in which time they were able to deal with several of the enemy fighters that were coming to investigate the racket the younger alchemist had been making.

The two veterans found themselves standing back to back near the middle of the front hall. They wheeled warily, intermittently shooting and snapping, as Ed and his brother created large fists from the black marble to hold attackers. All at once, there was dead silence in the room, save for the breathing of the unconscious captives and the somewhat less regular breathing of the four people clustered near the center of the room.

After a few deep breaths, Ed regained began pelting them with questions. "So, we heard that some Lieutenant General was having a party for a bunch of military people and that the Fuhrer was going to be here, so we thought we'd stop by and you all have been kidnapped. Aren't you lucky Al and I showed up to save you, Colonel Useless? Why were they attacking anyway? Seems like a motley group. Were they after the Fuhrer? Where is everybody else?" Roy brushed off the pint sized alchemist's rapid-fire questions while Riza and Alphonse exchanged much more civil greetings.

It took a while for Roy to convince Ed that he would answer all of his questions later and that they had to make sure the house was secure. "Fine. Al and the Lieutenant can stay here to guard this lot and we'll split up to check the rest of the mansion." Ed declared. He had already turned from the others when Roy replied sharply.

"No. Hawkeye's staying with me. She knows the house better than any of us and I'm not taking any chances. You two stay here, we'll be back soon." He ordered, stunning Ed into silence. It didn't even occur to him to ask why Hawkeye knew the mansion so well or why Mustang had insisted that she stay with him.

The couple was already working its way toward the back of the house by the time Ed processed the fact that there had been something strange about the colonel's response. They walked steadily through the rooms at the front of the mansion, making sure that none of the attackers were lying in wait.

As they approached the dining room, they heard the first noise they'd heard since leaving the Elric brothers behind. Riza rounded the corner and caught a glance of dark skin near the door to the kitchen. With a small wave she beckoned Roy into the dining room and they cautiously walked to the kitchen. The sight that met them in the usually pristine room was enough to make Roy falter in the doorway as his lieutenant strode into the room.

It seemed that several of the smaller knives that the kitchen was equipped with had found new sheathes in the three mercenaries that lay in crumpled heaps around the room. Mayaris came through the destruction quickly, embracing Riza for the briefest of moments before beginning to explain to her great-niece what had happened.

Roy tuned out Mayaris' narrative as he looked around the room. It took him a moment to realize that the old Ishbalan woman was gripping yet another small knife even as she spoke to Riza. It seemed that Hawkeye's family was even more formidable than he'd thought. _I'd hate to see the reprisal if she actually ever got hurt…_ he mused as he peered into the next room. As he reassured himself that the last of the rooms on the ground floor was clear, he imagined what Mayaris and the lieutenant general would do to him if Riza ever got hurt on his watch.

He decided that he would much, much rather spend the rest of his career doing twice his current load of paperwork than experience that first hand. Quite apart from the obvious fact that he'd never forgive himself, their reprisal would probably hurt. A lot.

Roy was jerked back into the present when Riza hurried out of the kitchen after him. "How am I supposed to protect you if you wander off like that on me?" she scolded as they began walking back. Mayaris followed, smiling slightly as she watched their backs.

When they reached the front hall again, an alarmed Ed met them. "Colonel, Lieutenant! Watch out!" He yelled, already starting to clap to transmute a hand to capture Mayaris.

Roy snapped quickly, setting off a small spark just in front of the agitated teen to distract him long enough to explain. Fullmetal killing Riza's great aunt would be a really bad way to wrap up this fiasco.

Convinced that Ed wasn't going to attack Mayaris, Hawkeye wandered (as much as she ever _wanders_ anywhere…) over to the shattered windows. Behind her, Roy was giving the Elrics some unwanted orders. A steady line of headlights was coming up the road to the front door.

In a matter of minutes, the front hall was once again swarming with soldiers leading the captured attackers away and people coming out of the cellar. Hughes was explaining what had happened downstairs to Roy and Riza while Grumman was overseeing the transportation of the prisoners and taking stock of the casualties. The Fuhrer had left with his family as soon as they were released, promising to be in his office for meetings as soon as he attended to his family.

While dozens of small meetings were taking place in the mansion another, much more important meeting was taking place behind closed doors. A thin, strangely dressed man cursed fluently for a minute before saying anything of value. "The idiots couldn't even kill Mustang and his little pet dog! Those alchemist brats helped them take out all of the mercenaries too!"

Pride shot the considerably taller homunculus a scathing look. "Did you say 'pet dog'? You do realize we were after the woman, not the mutt?"

"You know I meant her! It's just that she's _always_ with him. I've been in that mansion the entire time they have and I haven't seen them apart! She's like his pet dog!"

"And how did your undercover work go, Envy? Didn't you say that someone saw you get shot? In the head, and you didn't have the good sense to at least pretend to stay dead?" Wrath sneered, obviously only restating the event for the benefit of their audience.

He had predicted Father's reaction well. The great face darkened as Envy hastened to explain. "He only caught a glimpse! And it's not as if we can't go back and deal with him if we find him sniffing around, it was that Hughes guy! He works at Central with Wrath!"

Both Wrath and Pride moved to retort to Envy's self defense, but fell deathly silent when Father's voice boomed out over their half formed words. "That man is Mustang's friend. While your failure is far from acceptable, it can be rectified. I believe we have distracted the alchemist enough for now. If we do need to warn him, we will simply change our target from the woman to Hughes. If possible, we will avoid hurting the alchemist himself from now on. You have said in the past that he is strong, Wrath?"

While his eye could not see Father's intentions, the mustachioed homunculus understood them perfectly. "Yes, strong enough, I think. And if he is to be a candidate for a sacrifice, I believe we now have a new role for his 'pet dog' to play in our plans." The implications were not lost on the others, who nodded. She would be more useful as a hostage than dead someday. And now that they were confident that they could control the Flame Alchemist, it was time to turn their attention to the newest candidate for a human sacrifice: Edward Elric.

Sorry, I know it's short, but I suffered major writer's block right after I got home from Spain. This chapter refused to be written. It's not over yet, but the fic is rapidly drawing to a close. I'm considering a sequel, but I'm not sure what I'd include. Sorry again!


	16. Nearing the End

Dawn was already breaking when Lieutenant General Grumman decided that he'd had quite enough of talking with officers from Investigations. He had had a few of them seemingly permanently attached to his elbow, and he from what he'd seen, Roy and Elizabeth hadn't been faring much better. "I understand that this is a very difficult situation, young man, but I am confident that you and your colleagues can make some headway without the inhabitants of this house for a few hours."

The officer spluttered an argument before falling silent under Grumman's deadly serious look. "Of course, sir. I will let my superiors know that you would like the scene vacated for the morning." It took all of ten minutes for the second lieutenant's message to get the entire Investigations team into their cars and on the way off the property.

After sending his immediate subordinates to rest and instructing his two guests to do the same, Grumman retreated to his study. As he closed the door behind him, the lieutenant general looked down at the notes the Investigations officers had thrust upon him. Miraculously, there were only three dead and seven wounded.

Carlis was missing too, but Investigations was nearly convinced that he'd been spying on them from inside the military. It was worrisome that one of his own may have turned against him, but he was the newest member of the team and he _had _been acting more coldly towards the others over the last week or so…

The old war dog sighed. Couldn't he get some peace now that he'd been sent away from Central? But of course, a little action might not hurt too much. He'd just prefer that it not strike too close to home. What he really needed was something to take his mind off of the events of the last few days for a while. Had he ventured out into the hall again, he would have witnessed a scene to fit the bill nicely, but as it was, he was left to sift through his small mountain of reports.

Grumman's favorite new couple had lingered in the hall for a moment before starting up the stairs. "I'm sorry our date didn't turn out exactly as we might have hoped." Roy apologized, as though there was something he could have done to prevent the attack.

Riza looked up from a few stairs below him, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. Besides-" her response was cut off rather rudely when she accidentally stepped on a piece of fabric that had been torn almost off her skirt during the fighting. She went crashing to her knees on the edge of the next step with a rather undignified yelp.

The soft thud and yelp, accompanied by Riza's sharp gasp at the impact made Roy turn around. "Riza! Are you alright?" He helped her stand gingerly back up, quickly tearing the offending piece of fabric off.

"I'm fine. Thank you." She replied, not moving quite fast enough to draw Roy's attention away from the twin scarlet stains left on the white stair and her skirt. The fall, combined with all of the moving she'd been doing during the fighting had obviously reopened some of the cuts on her knees. "I just tripped." The sniper insisted, trying in vain to him.

Then Roy did something that seemed strange. He abandoned the response she had expected (a very sarcastic "Right."), and hugged her. It seemed a little out of place, but Riza wasn't about to argue. Then, all at once, one of his arms had moved, and she was swept of her feet. "Roy!" The sniper growled, quite ready to argue with being picked up. "I'm fine, put me down!"

The colonel laughed and began climbing the stairs. "Right, your fine." His passenger suppressed a groan. _There _was the sarcasm she'd been expecting. Shouldn't he be too tired to be his normal self like this?!? "The way I see it, I'm just helping a damsel in distress."

The "damsel" gaped at him, struggling to reach for one of the three guns she momentarily forgot that she had handed over to Investigations. "I'm only in distress because you insist on carrying me up the stairs! You're acting like Armstrong"

Roy nearly dropped her at that. "Hey! I am not a sparkly muscleman, Riza!" She laughed, glad to have made some impact, but that didn't deter Roy. "Now, my hands are full, so would you mind opening your door?"

Riza glared at him. "Put me down and open it yourself!" She ordered. Too bad he wasn't really one to follow orders…

Roy laughed again and shifted a little to open the door himself. "Do you need help taking care of those cuts?" He offered, setting her down on the chair at her desk.

She undid the snaps on her skirt to get a better look at the damage. "No, thank you." The sharpshooter shook her head vehemently, wiping a bit of the blood up with the tips of her fingers.

"Stubborn, aren't you?"

"I like to say I have an honest personality." Riza retorted, huffily straightening her skirt and looking away from him.

Roy thought fast, unwilling to let her have the last say yet again. "I'm glad to have such a strong willed subordinate." He grinned, swooping in to kiss her cheek. Riza turned quickly at the kiss, eyes betraying a little surprise. This was going to take some getting used to.

Roy disappeared for a moment, but quickly returned with a wet washcloth and the bandages the doctor had sent with them. "Here." She took the washcloth and began carefully dabbing at the scratches. It was clear that he wasn't going to give up any time soon.

It took them another five minutes to get Hawkeye's knees bandaged to her stand-in doctor's satisfaction.

Another quick kiss, this time on the lips, and Roy was on his way to the door between their rooms. "Get some rest, Riza. And let me know if you want to go downstairs!"

The blonde shook her head, scowling jokingly at him as he closed the door. She turned to head into her bedroom, drowsily thinking that her grandfather and Hughes might be a lot smarter than she'd given them credit for being.

Recognize this little dialogue? I thought it fit, and since the same few lines are sometimes repeated to give them extra significance in the manga, I thought I'd use some here, though of course, this takes place before the time they use it in the manga.


	17. Ever After

Warrant Officer Matthew Page knocked timidly at the door to the great house a few hours after the Investigations team had been so unceremoniously thrown out. He had been absolutely accosted down at the gate to the drive with the rest of his unit while they were on guard duty. Now he was the unfortunate soldier sent to awaken an irate Lieutenant General to inform him that a civilian woman was clamoring for access to the house.

He heard a great deal of moving around inside the house before the Lieutenant General finally answered the door. Grumman waited for his message without a word of greeting.

"Beg your pardon, sir, but there's a woman waiting at the gate to be let in. She says that she has to see Colonel Mustang, sir." The warrant officer was almost cowering on the front step.

When he glanced at Grumman's face, he was met with a pair of angrily flashing glasses. "You can tell her that the Colonel is not interested in seeing her. He is trying to sleep and it would be better for all concerned if she did not contact him again."

A look of utter confusion was quickly replaced by one of dawning comprehension on the young man's face. "Oh! Sir, I don't think I made the message clear. You see…"

-----

Ten minutes later, very tired Roy was to be found standing in the front hall being verbally assaulted by the formidable woman that had so frightened the warrant officer. Behind him, Grumman was watching the exchange with the air of someone watching a particularly amusing, one-sided sports match.

"I turn up at your apartment to find that you're not there, even though you _swore_ you'd be there. And then some man walks up and tells me where you are. Imagine coming to find that your little brother, who is _supposed_ to watch your son for the weekend, is staying at his superior's house because his l-i-f-e has been t-h-r-e-a-t-e-n-e-d! So I came here to get you to explain why you didn't think that it was important for me to know about this, and a bunch of guards tell me that, no I can't see my baby brother because he's taking a nap after a nice long night of dancing and fighting off people trying to k-i-l-l him!" The black-haired woman hissed angrily, her hands clapped tightly over her son's ears.

The five-year old strained to remove his mother's hands as his uncle stared in shock. "I… I know I should have told you, but it completely slipped my mind that I was babysitting Michael. I have had people trying to k-i-l-l me, Gabby. It's a little distracting! And I can't watch the squirt now, I'm not going to get to go back to my apartment for a few days now, and we don't know what'll happen in the next few days!" Roy spluttered, his voice rising as he wavered between irritation and embarrassment at forgetting his promise.

"The guards told me that that was just a precaution.. And you promised you'd watch him. Can't you just take him back to you place now? Come on, Roy. You know-" She stopped short when she saw Riza walking down the stairs looking confusedly down at the family. She looked from the blonde to her brother and back again irritatedly, clearly believing that Riza was yet another fling that Roy had somehow gotten into his superior's house. She was preparing another verbal attack when Roy hurried to introduce them.

"Gabby, this is First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. She's my aide and one of the other people involved in this mess. Riza, this is my eldest sister, Gabrielle, we call her Gabby, and her son, Michael. I was supposed to watch him this weekend."

The older woman's face changed quickly to surprise and then absolute glee as Riza took in the situation. "You're Lieutenant Hawkeye?!? Oh, Roy's told us so much about you. Michael, this is Miss Hawkeye from Uncle Roy's stories! Say hello."

Despite his sister's sudden change in demeanor, Roy continued in his worrying. He couldn't very well ask Grumman to let him babysit while he was a guest, but there was no way Riza would let him leave before Investigations was reasonably sure that there wasn't still a threat. He turned his attention to his nephew, who was by then staring at one of his favorite characters in his uncle's stories suddenly made flesh and blood.

Riza smiled at the child, who quickly looked away, before turning to Roy. "What's the problem? I'm sure Grandfather wouldn't mind if Michael stayed for the weekend."

"Wait. Don't you need to ask your superior officer? Isn't this his house?" Gabby seemed to have snapped out of her slightly detached, thrilled state in time to hear this.

She was supremely confused when the old man beyond her brother laughed quietly. "That's me, Miss. I'm Lieutenant General Grumman, Elizabeth's grandfather, and we would all be delighted to have young Michael stay with us for the weekend."

Seeing his sister's confused look, Roy silently pointed to Riza and mouthed "Elizabeth" to explain. She blinked briefly before nodding. "Thank you so much, sir. I have to run, thanks Roy! It was _very _nice to meet you, Miss Hawkeye." She set her son's bag down with a thud next to him before kneeling to look at him. "Be good for Uncle Roy. I love you, ok? Have fun."

The little boy grabbed the hem of Gabby's skirt in panic as she rose. It didn't take much for Riza to see that he didn't want his mother to leave. Rather than wait for the whole painful scene to play itself out, she walked over to where the pair stood and sat gingerly down on the floor next to Michael.

"Michael, do you like dogs?" She placed a hand on his back and patted him soothingly to get his attention. The little boy looked up and nodded tearfully, still clutching the skirt. "I have a dog named Hayate. Has your Uncle Roy ever told you about him?"

Michael's eyes widened and he loosened his grip a little. "Black Hayate's here too? Are Havoc and Breda an' Furey an' Ed an' Al here?"

"No, but I'm sure they'll come visit while you're here if you want to meet them. Do you want to meet Black Hayate now?"

The child clapped excitedly and nodded. "Yes, please!" He hugged his mother's legs briefly. "Bye, Momma! I'm gonna go meet Black Hayate!"

"Why don't you go over and wait by that door? I'll be over in a minute." Riza waved the little boy over to the door to her grandfather's office before putting a hand out for balance so she could stand up. To her great surprise, Roy was there in an instant to pull her to her feet despite her half-hearted protests.

Gabby glanced curiously at the couple as her son skittered across the room. Roy caught her look and smiled. "She'd never admit it to you, but she's hurt. She shouldn't have even come downstairs." He added with a hint of reproach. Riza rolled her eyes. She wasn't _that_ hurt and his scolding had gotten old long ago. As if _he_ hesitated before running into danger. "Anyway, we'll take care of Michael, so enjoy your vacation."

"Thank you both. I really appreciate it." Gabby replied with a little lingering uncertainty. She turned to leave, but paused with her hand on the door. She glanced back to where Roy stood with his arm around his aide's waist, curiosity (and perhaps hope) getting the best of her. "Umm… I feel silly asking, but… are you two…?"

She'd petered out at the end of her question, but Roy got the gist. "Yeah, yeah, Gabby. Now go on your vacation with your poor husband before your son changes his mind about staying."

A loud peal of laughter reached them as Grumman opened the door to his study to let Hayate bound out to greet Michael. Gabrielle smiled. "I don't think there's much of a chance of that. Thanks again."

When she returned to the city, Gabby spent two hours on a pay phone confirming her mother's suspicions about her youngest son's aide and hoping that she had the patience to stay with him.

While his mother was on the phone in the city, Michael was busily wrestling with Black Hayate on the floor of Grumman's study.

Mayaris had been consulted, and she and Riza were upstairs putting blankets on the couch outside Roy's room for his nephew. When they'd finished, Mayaris ordered Riza to stay there while she sent Roy and Michael upstairs and brought them some lunch. The sniper obeyed, though reluctantly, and sat down on the makeshift bed.

"Miss Riza! Is it true you saved my uncle's life?" Michael scampered into the room as he shouted the question.

The blonde glanced over the expectant little boy's head to look at his uncle. "Which time?" She asked dryly.

"Rain, Scar, Useless." Roy replied, cringing a little at the last word. Black Hayate barked from behind him, giving Roy the distinct sense that the dog was laughing at him.

Riza smiled. "Yes, it is true. Your uncle got a little carried away that time. What did he tell you?" The five year-old's face lit up and he clambered onto the couch next to Riza. Roy dropped down next to him as Black Hayate shot into the room and leapt up onto his mistress' lap.

As the boy enthusiastically recounted the story, Riza nodded and filled in the gaps, carefully giving every appearance of giving him her full attention. Roy watched as they continued their conversation, noticing for the first time how good Riza was with kids. Looking back, he was surprised that he hadn't realized it sooner. He guessed on some level he had. He'd always had her deal with kids at crime scenes. She'd be a great mother if she ever had children.

That train of thought quickly brought him screeching to a halt as he caught himself contemplating the future and some very surprising, initially frightening possibilities. What was even more frightening to his less-than-monogamous side was the fact that the prospect of his future kids – Riza's kids – wasn't as terrifying as it would have been to him years ago.

The alchemist was jerked from his thoughts when Mayaris entered with their lunches. He smiled when he realized that his nephew hadn't stopped speaking for more than a second or two at the interruption. No matter what happened in the more distant future, this weekend was going to be a breeze.

Roy was right, the weekend went well with visits from his subordinates and the combination of his relationship with his nephew and Riza's innate skill with children. Though any more romantic plans he might have had were put on hold, he had to admit, a week later, when he and Riza were returning to their respective homes, he'd enjoyed babysitting his nephew with Riza.

Carol was released from the hospital the same day that the others left Grumman's house. Riza was overjoyed and rushed to help her friend move back into her now restored home. Everything seemed to be going well in the three weeks after the final battle.

But then Roy and Riza were summoned to Central for a final debriefing on the events. Everything continued as usual during their stay. They learned that the mercenaries had been contracted by someone else specifically to go after the couple, but there were no clues as to who this might be and Investigations doubted that they'd find anything else. It was worrisome, but there had been no more attacks and they'd all gotten back to their normal lives. Beyond that, they learned very little, but that one fact was more than enough to stir up trouble.

It wasn't until the train ride back to Eastern that Roy asked his girlfriend why she'd been so quiet since the debriefing. Riza brushed it off and they presently fell asleep, her head resting Roy's chest.

The train rattled on as they slept. The car was nearly empty and quiet when Riza woke up. She tried to sit up, but found that Roy's arm was around her shoulders, holding her in place. Resigned to her current, not uncomfortable, position, she thought back to his question earlier.

She'd been worrying about what might happen next time someone wanted to hurt them. If they knew anything about them, it would be a simple thing to use one of them against the other. The more she thought about it, the clearer it seemed: being together only made things more dangerous for them. And she knew that they couldn't risk that. As she came to this realization, her eyes filled with tears.

Roy awoke to the feeling of a small patch of his shirt steadily becoming wetter and wetter. Looking down, he saw the source of the damp. "Riza, what's wrong? What is it?"

She pulled away, furiously trying to dry her tears. "We can't do this, Roy. It's too dangerous." She asserted in a slightly trembling voice.

A frown creased the colonel's face. "What do you mean? It's legal. The military can't hurt us just because we love each other, Riza." He reached out to pull her into a hug, but she shook her head.

"They can't, but others can. They can use us against each other. We can't risk it. We can't risk your goals."

"Riza, just because we break up, doesn't mean we wouldn't feel the same way. They could still use us against each other just as easily." He tried to reason with her gently, taking her hand despite her protests. A flicker of doubt crossed his face. "You do still want to be together, don't you?"

The blonde gasped a little. "Of course I do! But…" Her voice broke, and she paused to regain some semblance of composure. "But it will be less obvious if we're not together. We just can't show how we feel. It's safer that way."

Deep, deep down, he knew she was right. And she could tell he knew. He looked solemnly over at her, a pained expression visible in his eyes between rapid blinks. She slid her hand from his as he nodded silently. They lapsed into silence for a long moment. Then he spoke, his voice rough from holding back his emotion. "We will make it safe, Riza. I promise.

"I know, sir" She murmured quietly as she took out one of her guns and began to clean it. She had to stop after a moment. Tears wouldn't help keep her weapon in good condition.

-----

Several years after that terrible train ride, it was finally safe. Safe enough for a day they'd all hoped, in the back of their minds, to see.

Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye were getting married.

The bride and groom were happy beyond expression, not that they'd ever really needed words to communicate, and their cheer seemed contagious. Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Furey were cheerfully reassuring Roy that he was not dreaming while Gracia Hughes, Lyn, Carol, Roy's sisters, and Rebecca, another friend, were helping Riza get ready. She would have been happier with a little less fuss, but she knew she was lucky to have so many friends that cared. Elysia was happily getting Michael and herself in the way by asking people to admire her dress.

Lieutenant General Grumman left the hubbub inside and stepped outdoors to survey the arrangement of chairs on the lawn. He was thrilled that his granddaughter was finally getting married to Mustang, and everything seemed to be going well, except for the threatening clouds that bespoke a summer storm approaching the house. Grumman sighed. They weren't the only clouds hanging over this wedding. Maes Hughes was gone, and his absence was felt keenly by everyone who'd known him. But they were all pushing their grief to the side as they prepared; no one uttered the two words that might bring this illusion of perfection crashing down around their ears. It was like everyone was carefully ignoring some large, dangerous animal crouching in their midst. Like everyone else, Grumman brushed the sad thoughts from his mind impatiently as he turned to rescue the caterers from Mayaris.

Twenty minutes later, the guests were seated outside. Rain began falling softly at first, but it quickly increased to a torrential downpour. The guests were sent scrambling to get inside, some holding bags or jackets over their heads to ward off some of the water.

Claps of thunder and the brilliant flash of lightning filled the air above the wedding. Inside, the guests bemoanied the unfortunate weather. Finally, Gracia went to find Riza to ask what they should do.

When she reached the room Riza had been waiting in, she found the door ajar. Inside, the bride and groom were conferring in low voices. Knocking gently, Gracia entered the room and Elysia followed in her wake.

"I'm sorry about the weather. What would you like me to have the guests do?" She asked, joining them at the window.

They looked out the window, as though hoping that the rain might have stopped, before Riza answered. "They'll all fit in the front hall. We can have the wedding in there." Gracia nodded, smiling understandingly.

As she walked to the door, Roy turned to his fiancé. "It _would_ rain on our wedding day." He groaned quietly, making his displeasure clear.

"Are you afraid of lightning, Uncle Roy?" Elysia had stopped in the doorway when she'd heard his tone of voice.

"No, I just don't like rain very much, Elysia."

The little girl grinned up at him knowingly. "It's ok. I used to be too. But then Mommy told me what lightning _really _is."

"What is it?" Roy asked indulgently. Anything to keep Maes' daughter happy and keep his mind off the rain.

"It's Daddy taking pictures of us!" she quipped, before running down the hall after her mother. She left a stunned bride and groom staring after her for a minute. Then Riza began laughing. She glanced at Roy, tears of mingled sorrow and joy sitting unshed in her eyes. He looked over at her, similar tears already halfway down his face. Someone had finally voiced the thought that had been resounding in everyone's mind by bringing up Hughes. But Elysia had done even more than that. She'd brought him to the wedding so, at least for Roy and Riza, everything was perfect.

Both laughed while Riza wiped their tears away. "It shouldn't be raining inside on our wedding day." She scolded. "Let's go, we have a wedding to go to."

The couple walked out of the room arm in arm, but stopped in the doorway. They glanced back at the room and Roy raised a hand to wave at the window.

They both could have sworn that the next flash of lightning was a little brighter than the others were.

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Thank you all so much for your support of this story. You actually got to read my "sad ending" and the "happy ending", since I kind of put them together. I hope you've enjoyed it half as much as I have! You're all amazing!


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